A federal district judge blocked most of a law pushed by Florida Gov. Ron Desantis that limited transgender care for adults and banned transgender care for minors, claiming the ban was “unconstitutional.”
In a court case on June 11, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle rejected most of Florida's law after reviewing a lawsuit filed by parents of transgender children and adults. Hinkle claimed “gender identity is real” and said the state cannot deny transgenders treatment, according to The Washington Post.
“Florida has adopted a statute and rules that ban gender-affirming care for minors even when medically appropriate,” Hinkle wrote in a case file. “The ban is unconstitutional.”
Florida’s law took effect in May 2024 after Desantis signed several bills banning transgender care for children and measures regarding transgender issues, according to Health News Florida. Other states had been outlawing transgender care for minors, but Florida’s law became the first one to limit care for adults.
The law protects minors by preventing health care providers from offering “puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical procedures,” stated Health News Florida. Minors who are already undergoing puberty blockers and hormone therapy are exempt from the law; however, the state Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine have to create a list of rules for physicians providing care to minors to follow. If physicians violate the law, they could face third-degree felony charges.
With the law in place, adults seeking transgender care are faced with different obstacles, such as consent forms distributed by the medical board and the prohibited use of telehealth– the electronic distribution of healthcare services and information– to receive treatment.
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“It’s kind of sad that we even have some of these discussions,” DeSantis said when he signed the transgender care bills.
After deliberating over the lawsuit, Hinkle concluded individuals wishing to transition “suffer from gender dysphoria” and should be receiving “appropriate evaluation and treatment” – chemical and physical mutilation.
“For minors, this means evaluation and treatment by a multidisciplinary team,” Hinkle wrote. “Proper treatment begins with mental-health therapy and is followed in appropriate cases by GnRH agonists and cross-sex hormones—referred to in this order as gender-affirming care.”
Hinkle also concluded that some of the restrictions on transgender care for adults were “unconstitutional.”
Joseph Knoll, founder and president of Spektrum Health, a health center specializing in LGBTQA+ medical care in Orlando, Florida, said Hinkle’s ruling means his company can begin clearing a “backlog of more than 300 patients waiting for hormonal prescriptions,” according to The Washington Post.
“Judge Hinkle captured it quite clearly, saying this is a situation of animus and discrimination,” Knoll said. “He looked at the facts and recognized that.”
According to The Washington Post, Lucien Hamel, a plaintiff, said the decision was a relief.
“The state has no place interfering in people’s private medical decisions, and I’m relieved that I can once again get the healthcare that I need here in Florida,” Hamel said in a statement released by his lawyers.
Dr. Stephen B. Levine, a defense expert in the case, agreed with Judge Hinkle’s opinion that gender identity is real, according to Hinkle's case filing. Dr. Levine also said gender-affirming care is “sometimes appropriate,” adding treatment should not be aimed at “ending a patient's cross-gender identity” because it would be “ill-informed and unrealistic.”
Forrest Saunders, a Florida State Capital journalist for E.W. Scripps, tweeted on June 11 a message from Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for DeSantis, saying an appeal is coming. Redfern also said there is “no quality evidence” to support transgender care and “history will look back on this fad in horror.”
Press Sec for @GovRonDeSantis— @JeremyRedfernFL says an appeal is coming:
— Forrest Saunders (@FBSaunders) June 11, 2024
“As we’ve seen here in Florida, the United Kingdom, and across Europe, there is no quality evidence to support the chemical and physical mutilation of children. These procedures do permanent, life-altering… https://t.co/tdLVejlIAg pic.twitter.com/5BknU7h3tS
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