A taxpayer-funded research project meant to combat transgender people’s “voice dysphoria” is alive and well despite President Donald Trump’s federal spending cuts.
University of Cincinnati Professor Vesna Novak is leading a study aimed at creating “transgender voice training” software with funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the College Fix first reported. The government is slated to pour $214,998 into the project in Fiscal Year 2025 while the Trump administration works to reduce what conservatives call waste and abuse of taxpayer funds, including for other transgender-related research.
“Transgender and gender diverse people exhibit a significantly lower quality of life than the general public,” reads an abstract for the research.
“One reason for this is voice dysphoria: distress because a person’s voice does not match their gender identity (e.g., trans women with deep voices).”
“Reducing this voice-gender incongruence can improve quality of life, but is difficult to achieve,” the abstract says. Thus, researchers will attempt to lay the groundwork for “smartphone or computer-based software that delivers information about voice, suggests exercises, and provides feedback on exercise performance.”
Novak, a man who identifies as a woman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.