A new federal ruling has thrown out a Florida law that blocked gender-affirming care for transgender minors and significantly restricted access for adults, striking down one of the numerous examples of legislation that intervenes with LGTBQ+ matters in the state.
The law was introduced in 2023, and was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who also approved several bills that targeted gender-affirming care, drag performances, and discussions of pronouns in public schools.
On Tuesday, Senior Judge Robert Hinkle ruled the state’s decision to barr transgender minors from being prescribed puberty blockers and hormonal treatments with their parents permission went too far, calling the statute unconstitutional.
Hinkle also stopped the state from requiring that transgender adults only receive treatment from a doctor and not from a nurse or another qualified practitioner, along with barring a ban of online treatment for transgender adults.
“Some transgender opponents invoke religion to support their decision, just as some once invoked religion to support their racism or misogyny,” the judge wrote in his 105-page decision. “Transgender opponents are of course free to hold their beliefs. But they are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender.”
Hinkle went on to draw upon civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., arguing the bans on gender-affirming care are a contemporary form of normalized discrimination.
“In time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished,” he wrote. “To paraphrase a civil-rights advocate from an earlier time, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Gov. DeSantis has since retaliated against the ruling, issuing a statement calling it “erroneous,” and vowing to appeal.
Although many transgender people in Florida, including those who sued the state after it initially passed the law, had an opposite reaction to the news.
“This ruling means I won’t have to watch my daughter needlessly suffer because I can’t get her the care she needs,” said a mother of one of the transgender kids that sued. She has kept her full name and her daughter’s last name anonymous in the suit.
“Seeing Susan’s fear about this ban has been one of the hardest experiences we’ve endured as parents,” the mother said.
At least 25 states have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, with most of them facing lawsuits and some facing federal blocks.
