U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled on Tuesday that Florida’s ban on gender alerting treatments for minors is unconstitutional.
One of the signature policies of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, bill SB 254, prohibited surgeries and prescription treatments for children diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The law also banned universities, local governments, the health insurance plans for state workers and providers contracted with the state’s Medicaid Managed Care program from using public money to pay for sex-reassignment treatments.
“Florida has adopted a statute and rules that ban gender-affirming care for minors even when medically appropriate,” Hinkle wrote in his 105-page order. “The ban is unconstitutional.”
In his ruling, Hinkle said that it was “clear that anti-transgender animus” motivated bill sponsors and some legislators who approved the law.
“Transgender opponents are of course free to hold their beliefs,” Hinkle wrote. “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.
Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for DeSantis told Forbes that the state will appeal the decision saying the DeSantis administration disagrees “with the court’s erroneous rulings on the law, on the facts, and on the science."
He added: “Florida will continue to fight to ensure children are not chemically or physically mutilated in the name of radical, new age ‘gender ideology.’”
The ruling comes a little surprise as almost a year ago to the day, Hinkle issued a preliminary injunction against the Florida statute from applying to three minors who parents were part of a lawsuit saying they would “suffer irreparable harm” if they were not allowed to continue with the hormone treatment.
As of May 2024, 25 states have passed laws placing restrictions on gender altering treatments.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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