On June 11, a federal district court stopped Florida from enforcing a 2023 law that prohibits medical care for trans children, calling it “unconstitutional,” according to CNN.
District Judge Robert Hinkle of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida wrote, “Gender identity is real.” He also stated, “Whether based on morals, religion, unmoored hatred, or anything else, prohibiting or impeding a person from conforming to the person’s gender identity rather than to the person’s natal sex is not a legitimate state interest.”
The statute, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed, bars doctors and nurses from prescribing medication, including hormones or puberty blockers, to anyone under 18.
The order says, “The State of Florida can regulate as needed but cannot flatly deny transgender individuals safe and effective medical treatment—treatment with medications routinely provided to others with the state’s full approval so long as the purpose is not to support the patient’s transgender identity.”
A joint press release from several groups that Windy City Times obtained also stated that the law restricts similar medical care for adults. (The groups included GLBTTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Southern Legal Counsel, National Center for Lesbian Rights/NCLR and the law firm Lowenstein Sandler.) NCLR Legal Director Shannon Minter said, “As today’s decision clearly holds, the Constitution does not permit Florida or other states to selectively deny medical care to transgender people. We are grateful to the court for protecting our clients and other transgender people in Florida from this dangerous law, and we hope this decision will deter other states from seeking to impose similar restrictions.”
DeSantis’ office said the state will appeal the ruling.