american college of pediatricians american college of pediatricians the american college of pediatricians (acpeds) is a socially conservative advocacy group of pediatricians and other healthcare professionals in the united states, founded in 2002. the group's primary focus is advocating against abortion rights and against rights for gay, queer, and trans people. acpeds promotes conversion therapy and purity culture. its membership has been variously reported as between 150 and 700 physicians. this article is about the socially conservative advocacy group. for the professional association of pediatricians, see american academy of pediatrics. american college of pediatriciansfounded2002 (2002)foundersgerry boccarossa and joseph zangatype501(c)(3)tax id no. 47-0886878locationgainesville, floridamembers slightly more than 700revenue (2020) $127,841expenses (2020)$165,948websitewww.acpeds.org the organization's view on parenting differs from the position of the american academy of pediatrics, which holds that sexual orientation has no connection with the ability to be a good parent and to raise healthy and well-adjusted children. acpeds has been listed as a hate group by the southern poverty law center for pushing "anti-lgbtq junk science". a number of mainstream researchers, including the director of the us national institutes of health, have accused acpeds of misusing or mischaracterizing their work to advance acpeds' political agenda. founding and membership the group was founded in 2002 by a group of pediatricians, including joseph zanga, a past president of the american academy of pediatrics (aap), as a protest against the aap's support for adoption by gay couples. in 2005, the boston globe noted that acpeds was being used as a counterpoint to anything the aap said despite it being run by one employee at the time. between 2013 and 2017, acpeds distributed over 10,000 mailers to doctors as a recruitment strategy. in 2016 acpeds reported its membership at "over 500 physicians and other healthcare professionals", while leaked internal documents in 2023 identified approximately 1,200 current and former members with about 700 active. the acpeds is currently led by its president, quentin van meter. positions acpeds has vehemently criticized the american psychological association as a "gay-affirming program" that "devalues self-restraint" and supports "a child's autonomy from the authority of both family and religion, and from the limits and norms these institutions place on children". acpeds has also strongly opposed gender-affirming medical care for non-traditional or transgender gender identities in children. publications in response to the publication by the american academy of pediatrics of just the facts, a handbook on teen sexual orientation aimed at a school audience, acpeds issued its own publication, facts about youth, in march 2010. facts about youth, along with a cover letter, was mailed to 14,800 school superintendents. facts about youth was challenged as not acknowledging "the scientific and medical evidence regarding sexual orientation, sexual identity, sexual health, or effective health education" by the american academy of pediatrics. the acpeds letter to the superintendents primarily addressed same-sex attraction, and recommended that "well-intentioned but misinformed school personnel" who encourage students to "come out as gay" and affirm them as such may lead the students into "harmful homosexual behaviors that they otherwise would not pursue." the acpeds letter to the superintendents also stated that gender dysphoria will typically disappear by puberty "if the behavior is not reinforced" and similarly alleged that "most students (over 85 percent) with same-sex attractions will ultimately adopt a heterosexual orientation if not otherwise encouraged." reception some scientists have voiced concerns that acpeds mischaracterized or misused their work to advance its political agenda. gary remafedi, a pediatrician at the university of minnesota, wrote acpeds a public letter accusing them of fundamentally mischaracterizing his research in their publications to argue that schools should deny support to gay teenagers. francis collins, a geneticist and director of the u.s. national institutes of health (nih), issued a statement through the nih accusing the acpeds of misleading children and parents on its facts about youth website. warren throckmorton, a therapist who specializes in sexual orientation issues, similarly stated that his research had been misused, saying of acpeds: "they say they're impartial and not motivated by political or religious concerns, but if you look at who they're affiliated with and how they're using the research, that's just obviously not true." in an amicus brief regarding the removal of a child from the foster home of a same-sex couple (kutil and hess v west virginia) the national association of social workers (nasw) described acpeds as a "small and marginal group" which was "out of step with the research-based position of the aap and other medical and child welfare authorities". the lgbt advocacy organization pflag categorizes the acpeds as an anti-equality organization, describing the group as a "small splinter group of medical professionals who do not support the mainstream view of the american academy of pediatricians (aap) that homosexuality is a normal aspect of human diversity". the american college of pediatricians has been described by the southern poverty law center as a "hate group", and a "fringe group" which closely collaborates with the national association for research & therapy of homosexuality (narth) with "a history of propagating damaging falsehoods about lgbt people, including linking homosexuality to pedophilia". in response to being labeled a hate group by the southern poverty law center (splc), the acpeds undertook a private campaign with its allies to attempt to discredit the splc and to lower its standing on charity navigator. in response to an acpeds brief, the american civil liberties union (aclu) wrote that acpeds is a fringe group that has acted to promote "unscientific and harmful 'reparative therapies' for lgbtq students". surgical oncologist david gorski has said that statements from acpeds have been used by quack sites like natural news to push an anti-vaccine agenda. gorski has said that organizations spreading misinformation regarding hpv vaccines have often cited acped.