Federal court permanently blocks Florida law banning gender-affirming care for trans minors, restrictions on care for trans adults

A huge victory in Florida for the trans community and it tells us something we already knew about anti-trans laws - that they are coming from bigoted animus instead of genuine concern for children. In other words, the opponents of gender-affirming care manufactured justifications to pass laws against it, but the arguments simply didn't stand up in court.

From The Advocate

A federal court has permanently blocked Florida from enforcing its ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors and restrictions on the care for trans adults.

 “Transgender opponents are of course free to hold their beliefs,” Judge Robert Hinkle of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida wrote in his ruling, issued Tuesday. “But they are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender. In time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished. To paraphrase a civil-rights advocate from an earlier time, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

 “In the meantime, the federal courts have a role to play in upholding the Constitution and laws. 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.”

Hinkle also asserted, “Gender identity is real.”

He had temporarily blocked the law last year. When hearing the case in December, he had ripped into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for spreading lies about trans care for young people. 

 Journalist Chris Geidner from his (GLAAD Media Award nominated) substack LawDork pointed out how Hinkle ruled the law was a product of personal animus against the trans community. 

 U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle’s fiery, 105-page ruling is a complete and proper repudiation of the campaign of hate against transgender people employed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies in the legislature and appointees within his administration.

 “A majority of unbiased legislators and Board members likely would have concluded there was no legitimate reason to ban gender-affirming care across the board for all minors,” Hinkle found in his ruling, which followed a full trial on the law, passed as S.B. 254, and the actions of the Florida Board of Medicine and Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine. “The plaintiffs have shown that animus motivated a sufficient number of statutory decisionmakers.” 

 Hinkle, a Clinton appointee, ruled that the across-the-board ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors is unconstitutional. He also ruled that several of the restrictions placed on similar care for adults or for minors already receiving care are unconstitutional, including limiting provision of care only to physicians, requiring annual X-rays and bone-density scans and other follow-up care regardless of individualized needs, requiring use of a misleading “informed-consent” form, and limiting mental health assessments to being performed by psychiatrists or psychologists.

Under the judgment in the case, which is a class-action lawsuit, the relevant state and local officials are permanently enjoined from enforcing the unconstitutional provisions against any adults or minors seeking gender-affirming medical care in the form of puberty blockers or hormones 

 The ruling does not address surgery, as none of the minor plaintiffs challenged that provision and the remaining adult class representative is not seeking surgery at this time. As such, Hinkle wrote, “This order does not address surgery issues on the merits.”

Geidner goes on to meticulously point out just how Hinkle ripped the law and its justification apart. It's an entertaining read for those of us who've watched the war of lies waged against the trans community and gender-affirming care.