Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives pose for a photograph holding LGBTQ+ and Transgender Pride flags on the steps of the U.S. Capitol ahead of a vote on the Equality Act, Feb. 25, 2021.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
A federal judge in Florida issued a preliminary injunction that can permit three transgender children to receive puberty blockers, at the same time as the state has banned gender-affirming take care of minors.
Judge Robert Hinkle on Tuesday said the three youths, who’re children of the plaintiffs within the case, may receive GnRH agonists, often called puberty blockers. This suit challenges laws in Florida that bans gender-affirming take care of minors, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in May.
Doctors for one in every of the youngsters say she needs this medical treatment straight away, while the doctors for the opposite two say they’ll need these GnRH agonists “soon,” in keeping with the injunction.
“The elephant within the room must be noted on the outset,” Hinkle wrote in his decision. “Gender identity is real. The record makes it clear.”
“The plaintiffs’ adolescent children will suffer irreparable harm — the unwanted and irreversible onset of and progression of puberty of their natal sex — in the event that they don’t promptly begin treatment with GnRH agonists. The treatment will affect the patients themselves, no one else, and can cause the defendants no harm.”
The defendants on this case include Florida’s surgeon general, board of medication, board of osteopathic medicine, attorney general and every of Florida’s 20 state attorneys.
DeSantis’ office didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
The choice takes place amid a politically fraught environment for LGBTQ+ people. Greater than 525 bills targeting these individuals were introduced in 41 states throughout the 2023 state legislative session, in keeping with the Human Rights Campaign. Greater than 220 of those measures were focused on transgender people.
The organization estimates that greater than 30% of transgendered youth ages 13 to 17 reside in states where they can not access care. To date, 20 states have passed laws or policy that ban gender-affirming take care of individuals as much as age 18, the HRC found.
