Major teachers union that funds Democrats endorses ‘gender-affirming care’ amid backlash to transgender ‘medicine’

(The Daily Signal) – The American Federation of Teachers, a union that bankrolls Democrat candidates and left-leaning causes, endorsed “gender-affirming care” Sunday, despite growing concerns about the negative effects of experimental transgender medical interventions.

While some Democrats and progressives have suggested the party should move away from its commitments to “woke” litmus tests such as transgender ideology, the AFT’s move arguably makes that more difficult.

“Because the AFT is effectively just a branch—a wealthy branch—of the Democratic Party, the union’s latest endorsement of so-called gender-affirming care means the party will almost certainly maintain its rigid support for transgender ideology, even if that threatens both children’s health and the party’s electoral chances,” Scott Walter, president of the right-leaning Capital Research Center, told the Daily Signal in a statement Monday.

The AFT resolution on transgender ‘care’

The AFT, America’s second-largest teachers union with 1.8 million members, held its annual convention from July 16 to July 19, featuring many prominent Democrat speakers and passing 38 resolutions.

The resolution titled “Protecting Medical Research, Healthcare Access and Health Equity for LGBTQIA+ Communities” condemns the administration of President Donald Trump for attacking “evidence-based healthcare and scientific inquiry” on LGBTQ+ issues.

The resolution supports medical research into LGBTQ+ issues and pledges that AFT “will support policies that protect and expand access to affordable, evidence-based healthcare, including … gender-affirming care.” It states that AFT will support “legal advocacy efforts to defend access to evidence-based healthcare.”

The Daily Signal reached out to the American Federation of Teachers for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Are sex-rejecting procedures ‘evidence-based?’

The AFT resolution comes at a rather turbulent time for the experimental interventions euphemistically called “gender-affirming care.”

The Department of Health and Human Services conducted a peer-reviewed study last year finding little evidence for positive impacts from sex-rejecting procedures for minors. Studies have suggested these interventions cause harm, from increased cancer risks to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts.

A jury awarded a detransitioner $2 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit in February, and psychiatrists reportedly agreed to settle another detransitioner’s medical malpractice claim in January. Hospitals have distanced themselves from the Human Rights Campaign, a major transgender activist group that rates medical entities.

A leftist funding hub

The AFT’s political action arm has contributed to a wide swath of Democrat candidates in races across the country, according to public records analyzed by the parental rights group Defending Education. It contributed $500,000 to Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s 2025 gubernatorial campaign in Virginia, for example.

AFT contributed $525,000 to the Center for American Progress, an influential left-leaning think tank, between 2017 and 2025. It gave $335,000 to the center’s political action arm during the same period.

The union gave $321,500 to New Venture Fund, a dark money pass-through foundation that supports left-leaning causes and was formerly affiliated with Arabella Advisors, between 2016 and 2023. It gave $983,000 to Sixteen Thirty Fund, another dark money pass-through foundation formerly affiliated with Arabella, between 2016 and 2024.

The Daily Signal reached out to the Democrat National Committee, the Center for American Progress, New Venture Fund, and Sixteen Thirty Fund for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.