PFLAG v. Trump

Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the ACLU of Maryland, joined by pro-bono co-counsel Hogan Lovells and Jenner & Block, filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of PFLAG National, GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality (GLMA), transgender young adults, and families with transgender youth. The case challenges provisions of two Trump administration executive orders attempting to shut down access to necessary medical care for transgender people under 19 nationwide.  

In the first week after the orders were signed, some hospitals across the country abruptly halted medical care for transgender people under 19, canceling appointments and turning away patients, including some who had been receiving this care for several years. The orders bar the use of federal funds “to promote gender ideology” and direct federal agencies to withhold funds from medical providers and institutions that offer gender-affirming medical treatments such as puberty-delaying medications and gender-affirming hormones to anyone under 19. If implemented, the challenged provisions of the orders would deny critical federal funds to hospitals, clinics, doctors, and other providers, coercing doctors to follow the administration’s discriminatory ideology rather than healthcare providers’ best medical judgment.  

In March 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland granted a preliminary injunction, blocking enforcement of these provisions of the executive orders while the case proceeds allowing doctors and hospitals across the country to continue providing evidence-based, essential, and often lifesaving gender-affirming medical care to transgender people under 19. The government has appealed that ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which denied the government’s request to put the injunction on hold while the appeal continues.