A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked Florida’s ban on gender-transition treatment for minor children, blasting “bigotry” against transgender individuals and overriding concerns about the long-term medical risks from the use of off-label drugs.
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle, a Clinton appointee, issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Florida Department of Health, Florida Board of Medicine and Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine from enforcing board rules and state law against a group of children whose parents sued.
“The elephant in the room should be noted at the outset. Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear,” said Judge Hinkle, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Tallahassee Division).
He also took issue with those who believe “that transgender identity is not real, that it is made up.”
“Any proponent of the challenged statute and rules should put up or shut up: do you acknowledge that there are individuals with actual gender identities opposite their natal sex, or do you not? Dog whistles ought not be tolerated,” Judge Hinkle said in the 44-page document.
Jeremy Redfern, spokesperson for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, called the ruling “extremely limited in scope.”
“In this case, a single judge has decided that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones should be made available to three young children,” Mr. Redfern told The Washington Times. “Florida’s law otherwise remains in effect.”
The ruling comes with nearly 20 red states restricting those under 18 from accessing puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgeries amid rising concerns about long-term health consequences as youth gender clinics proliferate nationwide.
Texas became the 19th state to enact age-based guardrails on gender-transition drugs and surgeries with the signing Friday of SB 14 by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The law takes effect Sept. 1.
Several of those states are facing federal lawsuits, including Montana and Tennessee.
In his ruling, Judge Hinkle said there is “substantial bigotry directed at transgender individuals” as well as opposition from “those who incorrectly but sincerely believe that gender identity is not real but instead just a choice.”
He agreed that there are “legitimate concerns” about the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for children and adolescents, including infertility, but said there are also risks associated with not prescribing the drugs, including anxiety, depressional and suicidal ideation.
“Risks attend many kinds of medical treatment, perhaps most. Ordinarily it is the patient, in consultation with the doctor, who weighs the risks and benefits and chooses a course of treatment,” Judge Hinkle said. “What is remarkable about the challenged statute and rules is not that they address medical treatments with both risks and benefits but that they arrogate to the state the right to make the decision.”
The three children and their parents who filed the lawsuit are represented by the Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign, who issued a joint statement applauding the judge’s decision.
“The court recognized the profound harm the state of Florida is causing by forcing parents to watch their kids suffer rather than provide them with safe and effective care that will allow them to thrive,” the statement said. “We are incredibly relieved that these Florida parents can continue to get healthcare for their children while we proceed to challenge these bans and eventually see them fully overturned.”
Mr. DeSantis signed last month Senate Bill 254, which bars minors from obtaining medicalized gender-transition treatment and allows the state to take temporary custody of children being threatened with or undergoing such drugs or procedures.
“We obviously disagree with the judge’s ruling,” Mr. Redfern said. “We will continue fighting against the rogue elements in the medical establishment that push ideology over evidence and protect against mutilating our kids.”
The state’s medical boards had previously approved restrictions on gender-change therapeutics for minors.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the parents of three children identified as 11-year-old Susan Doe, a male-born child who plans to take puberty blockers; 8-year-old Gavin Goe, a female-born child who also plans to take puberty blockers, and 11-year-old Lisa Loe, a male-born child now taking puberty blockers.
“Today my entire family is breathing a huge sigh of relief knowing we can now access the treatment that we know will keep Susan healthy and allow her to continue being the happy, confident child she has been,” Susan’s mother said in a statement.
Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, called the ruling an “especially egregious example of judicial activism at work.”
“While Judge Hinkle asserts zealously that ‘gender identity exists,’ he provides no real proof of its existence because, of course, no real proof exists,” Mr. Schilling said. “And he unquestioningly accepts the arguments of the ideologically captured, profit-driven medical elites, while ignoring the very real damages that their so-called ‘care’ is causing to vulnerable children.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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