Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM)
The Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) was founded in 2019 as an international group of clinicians and researchers. Its founders include endocrinologist William Malone, pediatrician Julia Mason, and health researcher Zhenya Abbruzzese.
Read more on this site: SEGM Digest 2025 and SEGM and the critical clinicians in gender care.
What you can find
The website features discussions of studies, guidelines, and policy decisions related to gender care, a field that also includes the Cass Review and the Dutch Protocol. SEGM funds systematic reviews, organizes scientific meetings, and submits position statements to courts and lawmakers.
Background and criticism
SEGM advocates psychological support as the first step for young people and is controversial. In 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center designated SEGM as an anti-LGBTQ hate group; Yale researchers called the group an ideological organization with no ties to mainstream scientific associations, and a spokesperson for the Endocrine Society placed it outside the mainstream. SEGM itself presents as an advocate for evidence-based care.
Funding and size
SEGM is a nonprofit organization. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the group raised more than $50,000 from three anonymous donors in 2019 through a GoFundMe campaign. In 2020, a large share of its income came from a $100,000 donation from the Edward Charles Foundation. In 2021, annual revenue totaled nearly $800,000; the largest donation, worth more than $350,000, came from Fidelity's donor-advised fund. The identities of the ultimate donors therefore remain largely unknown. Its advisers include psychiatrist Stephen B. Levine and psychotherapist Stella O'Malley.
The McMaster University reviews
SEGM paid $250,000 for systematic reviews led by Gordon Guyatt of McMaster University, one of the founders of evidence-based medicine. The reviews were published in 2025 and rated the certainty of the evidence as low or very low. Guyatt subsequently distanced himself from the way SEGM used the findings. He called the organization's portrayal of the evidence unacceptable and accused it of attaching little or no value to patient autonomy. How such reviews work and what low certainty does and does not mean is explained in systematic reviews in gender care.
Links with other organizations
Seven SEGM advisers also advise Genspect. Therapy First was founded in 2021 by four SEGM members. In 2026, Therapy First and Genspect clashed over the approach to gender care. The organization testified before U.S. state legislatures about bills restricting gender care and filed briefs in lawsuits, including cases concerning reimbursement for care in Arizona. In 2025, Washington State University suspended continuing education courses that used SEGM materials. For readers, this means that the site is a well-documented gateway to critical literature, but that its selection and interpretation come from one side.