Arizona Republicans Seek to Disqualify Transgender Advocate’s Testimony Amid Plagiarism Allegations
Arizona Republicans are actively working to have the expert testimony of Dr. Daniel Shumer, a prominent advocate for transgender youth, removed from consideration in a legal challenge against the state’s "Save Women’s Sports Act." The move comes in response to accusations of plagiarism levied against Dr. Shumer, alleging that he improperly used the work of other academics in his testimony without proper attribution.
The controversy is centered around Arizona’s "Save Women’s Sports Act," a law that has faced legal challenges since its enactment. The law aims to restrict transgender girls from participating in female sports teams, a measure that proponents argue is necessary to ensure fair competition.
Senator Warren Petersen, Arizona’s state senate president and the lead defendant in the legal challenge to the "Save Women’s Sports Act," has been a vocal critic of Dr. Shumer’s testimony. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Petersen accused Dr. Shumer of "gaslighting," claiming that the core of the issue lies in the notion that "a boy is a girl."
Petersen has now amplified his criticism, asserting that Dr. Shumer’s alleged plagiarism goes beyond mere "gaslighting." According to Petersen, the legal team challenging the law has presented the court with multiple instances where Dr. Shumer’s testimony contains phrasing that is "identical or virtually identical" to that of other academics, without any acknowledgment or credit given.
Dr. Shumer is a clinical associate professor of pediatrics and medical director of the Gender Services Program, as well as the fellowship director of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Michigan. He has served as an expert witness opposing Arizona’s "Save Women’s Sports Act." Petersen claims that Dr. Shumer plagiarized his expert witness testimony at least 22 times.
The legal battle over the "Save Women’s Sports Act" has been ongoing. A U.S. judge previously halted Arizona from enforcing the ban on transgender girls in female school sports teams. The case is currently awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court on whether it will hear an appeal of an earlier court order.
Petersen has been a driving force behind the defense of the "Save Women’s Sports Act." He has stated his commitment to "championing the integrity of women’s sports."
In response to the plagiarism allegations, Petersen filed a Daubert motion, a legal request to remove Dr. Shumer as the opposing expert witness. The motion argues that Dr. Shumer’s opinions are unreliable due to plagiarism, a lack of qualifications, and the absence of objective proof that his opinions represent sound science.
The Daubert motion alleges that Dr. Shumer borrowed wording from Stephen Rosenthal, a witness in a case challenging Alabama’s law restricting surgeries and hormone therapy for minors, and from Joshua Safer, a witness in a case challenging West Virginia’s "Save Women’s Sports Act."
One example cited by Petersen involves a report issued by Dr. Shumer on October 10, 2024, which allegedly copied wording nearly verbatim from a report filed by Rosenthal on April 21, 2022.
Rosenthal’s wording: "Any attempts to ‘cure’ transgender individuals by forcing their gender identity into alignment with their assigned sex are harmful, dangerous, and ineffective. Those practices have been denounced as unethical by all major professional associations of medical and mental health professionals, such as WPATH, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association."
Shumer’s wording: "Attempts to ‘cure’ transgender individuals by forcing their gender identity into alignment with their birth sex are harmful and ineffective. Those practices have been widely denounced as unethical by all major professional associations of medical and mental health professionals, such as the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Psychological Association, among others."
The University of Michigan’s guide defines plagiarism as "the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit."
During a deposition on February 18, 2025, Dr. Shumer appeared to admit to plagiarism. He stated, "I don’t believe that an expert report necessarily constitutes research and [] this U of M Standard Practice Guideline may or may not be applicable to an expert report. Also, as an expert in this case, I’m not performing duties related to my role in the University of Michigan." He added, "All that being said, I think that it’s clear that some of the words I used were used from other sources without appropriate credit and that that meets this definition."
When asked why he should have cited the reports in his expert report, Dr. Shumer responded, "Because I believe that that’s the right thing to do when — when there’s material that — that was initially written by someone else that you’re using to make a similar point."
Dr. Shumer is the clinical director of the Child and Adolescent Gender Services Clinic at Mott Children’s Hospital, which provides medical interventions such as GnRH agonists and gender-affirming hormones. He is also an expert witness in cases against President Donald Trump’s executive order "Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation."
Dr. Shumer has been featured in social media posts from Stand with Trans, an organization that aims to create a safe and supportive space for transgender youth.
In a September 12, 2024 Instagram post, Stand with Trans called Shumer "a leading pediatric endocrinologist" who would "debunk common myths and walk through the referral process for pediatric gender clinics, offering invaluable information for both youth and parents."
Fox News Digital reached out to Dr. Shumer and the University of Michigan for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
