Brown University is getting criticism from the left and the right after removing a press release about a professor’s research on transgender teens. The professor’s findings suggested that some adolescents may decide they’re transgender because of peer pressure or internet influences.
Lisa Littman, assistant professor at Brown University, published her findings in the journal PLOS ONE. Her article was based on an online survey of parents whose teenagers came out as trans after one or more of their friends did the same.
Critics questioned the methodology of the study, prompting the journal to request an expert review. Brown also pulled its own article touting the study from distribution.
In a statement, Brown’s School of Public Health Dean Bess Marcus said community members had been expressing concerns that the study could be used to “discredit efforts to support transgender youth.”
Brown’s LGBTQ Center said the study had “emboldened bigoted and discriminatory attitudes.”
Conservative media have accused Brown of bowing to liberal activists. Currently there is a petition with more than 3,000 signatures in support of Littman’s research and in defense of academic freedom.
Littman could not be reached for comment about her recently published research.
