Social media outrage ran wild after a report from Moms for Liberty claimed a new Minnesota law would permit dolls with swappable genitals to be handed out in public schools to children as young as 4. “Gender Dolls are to be used by teachers & counselors in K-12 schools,” Moms for Liberty claimed, sharing a post by Scarlett Johnson, which featured “MyGender Dolls,” a “therapeutic” doll line for “gender diverse children ages 4–10.” The dolls feature “paper dolls with swappable/removable internal and external genitals, gender-neutral names, and 100+ interchangeable pieces.” The dolls are part of a research program at the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. Dianne Berg, one of the faculty members leading the initiative, spoke with the University of Minnesota Foundation’s magazine in an article that has since been deleted about the initiative.  “It’s really important to address the belief, ‘I’m not a ‘real’ boy because I don’t have these private parts,’ versus, ‘I am a real boy, whatever my anatomy looks like.’ It’s about helping children develop tools to cope with messages in society that could lead to shame,” she said.

Conservatives immediately expressed their concerns over the dolls. “Tim Walz is using your tax dollars to put transgender dolls with swappable genitalia in classrooms for children as young as 4 years old. This isn’t a joke. It’s happening in Minnesota this fall,” wrote New York Representative Nancy Mace on X. “The dolls come with removable, interchangeable body parts to help children ‘realize all the different options that exist for who they can be, regardless of their body parts.’ For FOUR YEAR OLDS. Your tax dollars.” Mace called on parents to be “furious” and warned that leftists are “coming for your children.” It is currently unclear if tax dollars were used to fund any part of MyGender’s research. Dr. Quentin Van Meter, immediate past president of the American College of Pediatricians, called the dolls “just a grooming tool” that “have no place in an ethical medical care world.” He said children are capable of knowing their biological sex by age three but don’t understand until about age 7 the “immutability of the sexes.”

Liberal fact checkers like Snopes were quick to debunk the claims, with Lead Stories releasing a statement from the Minnesota Department of Education calling the claims “patently false.” “The paper-cutout dolls will not be implemented in Minnesota K-12 public schools. They are intended for use by licensed professionals and clinicians,” the department claimed. The statement did not address, however, that the MyGender website lists that the dolls would be used “in clinical and educational settings” by “school counselors & educators.” The conservative group, Defending Education, has filed a complaint with the Department of Education and the Justice Department over the program. “Although MyGender Dolls are reportedly the result of ‘state-funded efforts’ and intended for use Minnesota schools, there is no indication in news reports or on the MyGender Dolls website that Minnesota parents have been informed about MyGender Dolls’ forthcoming launch,” the group wrote. “DE urges your departments to investigate Minnesota’s MyGender Dolls program and take appropriate corrective action.”