Marjorie Taylor Greene pushes transgender care outrage with out-of-context, decade-old ‘Dateline’ clip

Right-wing extremists and influencers are misrepresenting a decade-old episode of NBC’s Dateline featuring Josie Romero, a young transgender girl from Arizona, to challenge the legitimacy of gender-affirming care.

The central figures in this misleading campaign are Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok on X, formerly Twitter. They and others on the right have leveraged a clip from the 2012 episode, portraying a moment of parental support for Josie’s identity as coercion into medical treatment, to fuel their argument against such care for transgender youth.

Raichik highlighted a specific scene where Josie, then 11, receives puberty blockers, alleging, “What you’re watching is one of the greatest medical scandals in modern history. Thousands of kids & adolescents sold the lie that they’re born in the wrong body and if they permanently alter their body they can be happy. This video should infuriate you.” Echoing Raichik’s sentiment, Greene retweeted the post, falsely claiming, “This is child abuse!! Congress must pass my bill Protect Children’s Innocence Act to make it illegal to perform this on children!!!”

However, this portrayal fails to capture the true context; Josie’s reaction in the video stems from a common childhood fear of needles and momentary discomfort, not from any reluctance towards the gender-affirming treatment itself.

Trending stories

VIDEO: A man living with HIV discusses his journey to fatherhood

Electric Forest is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community

Out and About with Christian Cooper

This HIV Long-Term Survivor Day, listen to this leader from God's Love, We Deliver

BenDeLaCreme reveals if she'd like to return to 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'

‘Dragula’ star Dollya Black comes out as trans and embraces trans joy

Checking out: nhow London, the city’s coolest hotel

Gays went feral at an iconic Pride celebration in Pensacola, Florida

1985: the year the AIDS crisis finally broke through the silence

Grindr workers pushed out are fighting to get their jobs back

Wilderness, woods, and Wigstock: Drag icons light up the Catskills

BREAKING: Supreme Court rules to save free access to preventive care, including PrEP

'King of Drag's Buck Wylde reveals their master plan for kings to reign over the scene (exclusive)

Joe Biden has tied the record for most LGBTQ+ judges confirmed in federal courts

David Archuleta on loving sexy crop tops & the skin he's in

Ranking the 15 best lesbian and sapphic coming-of-age movies ever

Meet Out's Most Eligible Bachelorettes of 2025

All 6 rogue Mississippi cops got long prison sentences in 'Goon Squad' torture of 2 Black men

53 steamy celebrity Calvin Klein ads the gays won't forget

Elon Musk uses burner accounts on X, doesn’t fact-check: report

Sasha Velour revives Alexander Velvet to honor 'King of Drag' series

Trump admin guts $258 million in funding for HIV vaccine research

France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

BREAKING: The WNBA announces expansion teams in these three cities

How climate disasters hurt mental health in young people

• 0
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8

In August, Gays Against Groomers, an anti-trans hate group, targeted Romero on social media, misgendering her and using her deadname, and spun a narrative of doubt and regret around her transition, which they presented as evidence of the harm of gender affirmation.

Romero, who now goes by Sadie Croft, has grown up and continues to live authentically despite the ongoing debate surrounding her childhood decision. Her Instagram page, which features moments from her life, has become another battleground, with some commentators urging her to detransition and others outright denying her transgender identity.

Greene’s Protect Children’s Innocence Act proposed making it illegal for health care providers to perform gender transition procedures on people under the age of 18. Supporters of the bill argue it protects minors from irreversible decisions, while critics, including major medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, see it as an attack on the rights of transgender youth, denying them access to medically necessary, gender-affirming healthcare.