Federal Judge Blocks Florida’s Extreme Anti-Trans Care Law: “Gender Identity Is Real”
A federal judge on Tuesday has temporarily blocked a pair of Florida bans on gender-affirming health care for youths in a ruling that outright condemns anti-trans bigotry and goes as far as to debunk bogus claims from state officials.
The ruling from U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle, a Clinton appointee, grants a preliminary injunction that blocks enforcement of a new law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and rules that prevent a group of trans youth who sued the state from accessing widely accepted care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, as their legal challenge plays out.
Those who violate the law risk being convicted of a third-degree felony crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, according to Florida’s criminal code. “The new law additionally limits access to care for transgender adults by significantly narrowing the pool of providers who are able to legally administer treatments and requiring that patients over the age of 18 submit documentation that does not yet exist,” according to The Hill.
The ruling follows a lawsuit against the state’s surgeon general from a group of Florida families with trans children, who argued that the state could not “demonstrate any rational basis, much less an important or compelling one, for the transgender medical bans which prevent transgender adolescents from getting safe and effective medically necessary healthcare.” Judge Hinkle wrote that “gender identity is real” and agreed with the plaintiffs that gender-affirming care is “medically necessary.” Judge Hinkle’s ruling disembowels the state’s transphobic arguments and points to discriminatory language and bigotry that have fueled Florida’s rules as well as similar legislation across the country,
