TCT-S-04 · Education
Federal grants spent $8 million “making mice transgender”
Statement and context
“Eight million dollars for making mice transgender.” — 2025-03-04, address to a joint session of Congress.
“Eight million dollars for making mice transgender.” — 2025-03-04, address to a joint session of Congress.
What the evidence shows
The cited grants studied how hormone therapy, sex differences, or gender-affirming hormones affect HIV susceptibility, asthma and other health questions. “Transgenic” mice are genetically modified animals and are not synonymous with “transgender”; some public lists also conflated the terms. See the NIH RePORTER grant database and FactCheck.org’s grant-by-grant review.
Misleading. Some funded animal studies did involve hormones relevant to transgender health, but the phrase inaccurately describes the research purpose and, in some circulated examples, confuses “transgenic” with “transgender.”
Sources and attribution
Tracker research synthesis; inspect the linked evidence and research record.