Families sue state over trans youth treatment rules
TALLAHASSEE — Four families have filed a federal lawsuit challenging rules adopted by Florida medical boards that prohibit doctors from providing gender-affirming treatment such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy to transgender children, arguing the rules intrude on “parents’ fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their adolescent children.”
The lawsuit alleged the rules unconstitutionally “violate the rights of parents to make medical decisions to ensure the health and wellbeing of their adolescent children” and are discriminatory.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration filed a petition last summer asking the medical boards to adopt the rules, arguing that gender-affirming care is experimental and not backed by rigorous research. The Florida Board of Medicine’s rule went into effect on March 16 and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine’s rule will go into effect Tuesday.
“The transgender medical bans do nothing to protect the health or well-being of minors. To the contrary, the transgender medical bans undermine the health and well-being of transgender minors by denying them essential medical care,” lawyers for the plaintiffs argued in the complaint filed Thursday in the federal Northern District of Florida.
Under the rules, children diagnosed with gender dysphoria will be allowed to continue taking the drugs if they were receiving the treatments when the regulations took effect. But trans children who hadn’t begun taking the drugs are ineligible. The federal government clinically defines gender dysphoria as “significant distress that a person may feel when sex or gender assigned at birth is not the same as their identity,”
Attorneys from a number of LGBTQ-advocacy groups filed the lawsuit on behalf of parents identified as Jane Doe, Brenda Boe, Carla Coe and Fiona Foe and their children, Susan Doe, Bennett Boe, Christina Coe and Freya Foe. The families, who are using pseudonyms to protect the children’s privacy, live in Alachua, Duval, Orange and St. Johns counties, and the children range in age from 9 to 14. The named defendants are Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and the 12 members of the medical boards.
Florida is among a number of Republican-led states enacting policies targeting transgender youths and adults. DeSantis, widely seen as a top contender in the 2024 Republican presidential race, has made the issue one of his top priorities, calling gender-affirming care “child mutilation.”
The lawsuit also alleged that the rules violate equal-protection rights by banning “essential medical treatments” for the adolescent plaintiffs because they are transgender. Under the rules, hormone therapy and puberty blockers remain available to children diagnosed with conditions other than gender dysphoria.
The challenge said the treatment restrictions contradict research supporting care for children diagnosed with gender dysphoria, who have higher rates of depression and suicidal ideation.
“The transgender medical bans ignore the established medical and scientific consensus that these treatments are medically necessary, safe, and effective for the treatment of gender dysphoria,” the lawsuit said. “The defendants have no compelling justification for preventing parents from ensuring their adolescent children can receive essential medical care. The transgender medical bans do not advance any legitimate interest, much less a compelling one.”
According to the lawsuit, the rules will have a negative effect on the young plaintiffs by interrupting various phases of transitioning. As an example, Susan Doe, 11, has been “living fully as a girl” since kindergarten but has not started taking medical treatment because she hasn’t reached puberty.
The Does, who moved to Florida when Susan Doe’s father was stationed in the state, said military doctors who worked with their family “understand the importance of providing … evidence-based, individualized care” to their daughter.