Committee member presses witness on transgender care and DEI in medical curriculum

A committee member in a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing pressed a medical witness on whether "someone can have a uterus but not be a woman," and accused medical schools of hiding diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, coursework "under the guise of medical access." The witness said the institution is treating transgender people and doing so "in compliance with state and federal law."

The committee member opened the exchange by asking, "Can someone have a uterus but not be a woman?" and called the idea the school is promoting "ridiculous." The witness responded by invoking a colleague, saying, "I think again as doctor Hawgood has described, we're treating, transgender, people, but we're doing that in compliance with state and federal law."

The committee member then asked whether the school teaches biology; the witness replied, "Yes. We do." Pressed for a direct yes-or-no answer on whether a person can have a uterus and not be a woman, the committee member said, "Just say yes or no," and the witness answered in the transcript, "Again, I would I would need a general lady," an unclear remark that did not provide the requested binary response.

Toward the end of the excerpt, the committee member told the chairman, "it's clear these medical schools are hiding DEI curriculum under the guise of medical access," framing the concern as a deliberate concealment of curricular content. The witness's last recorded reply in the excerpt was transcribed as, "The general lady's coming."

The excerpt contains an exchange of a question demanding a categorical answer and a witness response that emphasized compliance with applicable law rather than providing the requested binary definition. No formal motion, vote, or other committee action on the matter is recorded in the provided transcript segment.