Today, a U.S. District Court Judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of Florida’s discriminatory ban on gender-affirming medical care for trans youth. The case – Doe v. Ladapo – was brought by Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign on behalf of nine families and enjoins enforcement of the ban as to the three families on whose behalf the injunction was sought.
In issuing its decision, the court relied in large part on the trial record developed by Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project, National Health Law Program (NHeLP), and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in the separate and related case Dekker v. Weida, which challenges Florida’s prohibition on Medicaid coverage for treatment of gender dysphoria for transgender Floridians, as set forth in recently enacted SB 254 and the rule promulgated by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) last August. The trial in Dekker v. Weida concluded two weeks ago and a ruling is expected soon.
The advocates from Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project, National Health Law Program (NHeLP), and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP issued the following statement:
“We are gratified to see this court decision temporarily halting Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors as it pertains to the bans challenged in Doe v. Ladapo and congratulate the plaintiffs and their legal advocates on this important victory. Every transgender adolescent and adult in Florida deserve and is entitled to access the evidence-based, widely-accepted medical care that they need; this includes medical treatment for gender dysphoria.
We are also gratified to see the court’s reliance on the substantive record that was developed during trial in our related case – Dekker v. Weida – challenging Florida’s ban on state funding and Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming medical care. This decision is an important first step in ensuring access to evidence-based, widely accepted gender-affirming medical care for gender dysphoria for all people in Florida.
We look forward to the Court’s decision in our case Dekker v. Weida, so that transgender adolescent and adult Medicaid beneficiaries can access this essential and often lifesaving care. We will also continue to fight back along with our community partners such as the advocates in Doe v. Ladapo against Florida officials’ campaign of persecution and discrimination against LGBTQ Floridians.”