André Van Mol
This content was last updated Nov. 16, 2023, 3:33 p.m. UTC
André Van Mol is a family physician employed at Dignity Health Medical Group—North State and co-chair of fringe conservative doctor’s group American College of Pediatricians’ (ACPeds) Committee on Adolescent Sexuality, which has been listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Van Mol is also the media spokesperson for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), a religious association for medical professionals that opposes abortion, adoption by same-sex couples, and social recognition of trans people.
Gender dysphoria is a serious mental health issue. By contrast, transgenderism is a belief system that increasingly looks like a cultish religion—a modern day Gnosticism denying physical reality for deceived perceptions—being forced on the public by the state.
Education and Work
Van Mol earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1988, and has also studied at the University of Southern California, Charleston Naval Hospital, and the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute.
He has worked as a naval flight surgeon and private practice family physician, and has also contributed to Christian news outlets, writing exclusively about the LGBTQ+ community.
Membership in Bethel Church
Van Mol is an "elder" and Board of Directors member of the non-denominational Bethel Church in Redding, California. Bethel Church has been at the center of numerous scandals since its establishment in 1952. Notable members include white supremacist antisemites Ben and James Williams, who murdered Gary Matson and Windfield Mowder in 1999 for being gay, and the father of the perpetrator of the October 2015 Colorado Springs shooting.
Bethel Church is also responsible for funding and promoting conversion therapy group CHANGED Movement. In 2018, the church opposed three California bills that would restrict conversion therapy practices; Van Mol himself has long supported conversion therapy for both gay and transgender people.
Filing Amicus Briefs
Van Mol is frequently sought out by anti-LGBTQ+ litigators to file amicus briefs in court.
He has submitted or been named in amicus briefs for Dekker v. Weida (formerly Dekker v. Marstiller) in Florida, a suit against the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration regarding their refusal to cover transgender health through state Medicaid; in Drew Adams vs. School Board of St. Johns County, Florida, a case regarding Title IX protections for transgender students seeking to use correct restrooms in public schools in St. Johns County; and in Doe v. Boyertown Area School District, a case regarding an unnamed cisgender boy’s “right to privacy” superceding transgender boys’ rights to use the correct restrooms and changing facilities.
Work With ACPeds
In April of 2022, Van Mol was hired by Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to assist in ghostwriting material that would justify the planned exclusion of transgender health care from state Medicaid coverage. Van Mol’s hiring was part of a pre-existing plan to deny transgender Floridians health care without consideration for the evidence in support of gender affirming care for adults and minors; an AHCA employee referenced this decision as "a conclusion in search of an argument."
As such, in May Van Mol presented AHCA with a 55-page list of references and resources to be used in arguments against medical and social transition. Though 2023 ACPeds leaks reveal that Van Mol simply copied the brunt of this list from a pre-existing document formerly authored by him, he would bill the AHCA $6,125 for a claimed 17.5 hours of work at $350 an hour for his assistance.
Further resources:
- Van Mol's Twitter
- A News Cafe article on Bethel Church
- The Daily Beast article on Bethel Church
- Van Mol article promoting medical misinformation about gay sex
- Van Mol's page at Dignity Health, where he remains employed despite anti-LGBT hatred
- Van Mol's connections to other anti-transgender hate groups