Weaponising Anti-FGM Laws to Fuel Transphobic Agendas in the US
On May 19, 2025, American Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced H.R. 3492, a bill that dangerously conflates FGM with gender-affirming care to justify banning the latter nationwide. The U.S. End FGM/C Network and partners have drafted a joint statement strongly condemning this harmful legislation. The End FGM European Network has signed it, and we strongly encourage other organisations to join us.
In the U.S., FGM has been a federal crime since 1996. The STOP FGM Act, passed with bipartisan support in 2020, strengthened this law to better prevent FGM and protect girls. Today, the Trump administration is trying to weaponise the fight against FGM to advance its transphobic agenda.
The new bill, H.R. 3492, titled “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 19, 2025. It proposes amending 18 U.S. Code § 116, which prohibits FGM, by expanding its scope to include gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 18. It defines such care as “genital mutilation,” and seeks to criminalise surgeries performed for the purpose of aligning a person’s body with their gender identity.
This conflates FGM, a form of gender-based violence with consent-based, medically necessary gender-affirming care. This false equivalence threatens to:
- Undermine bipartisan legal progress made to protect girls at risk of FGM/C.
- Weaken legal clarity and enforcement.
- Politicise public health and stigmatise trans and gender-diverse individuals.
While this is currently a U.S. proposed law, the End FGM European Network is concerned about similar rhetoric spreading in Europe. Misusing FGM to push transphobic agendas harms both trans people and survivors. It undermines decades of progress on bodily autonomy and dignity. We stand in solidarity against any attempts to instrumentalise the anti-FGM agenda for other purposes around the world. We also firmly oppose transphobic attacks wherever they occur.
The U.S. End FGM/C Network, the Global Platform for Action to End FGM/C, the Americas Alliance to End FGM/C, and other civil society organisations have united to urge Congress to reject H.R. 3492 through a joint statement. If your organisation would like to join the End FGM European Network and over 75 others, you can co-sign this letter.
