In Doe v. Ladapo, (ND FL, June 6, 2023), a Florida federal district court issued a preliminary injunction barring Florida from enforcing against plaintiffs its ban on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for treating minors who have gender dysphoria. The court said in part:
The elephant in the room should be noted at the outset. Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear. The medical defendants, speaking through their attorneys, have admitted it. At least one defense expert also has admitted it....
Despite the defense admissions, there are those who believe that cisgender individuals properly adhere to their natal sex and that transgender individuals have inappropriately chosen a contrary gender identity, male or female, just as one might choose whether to read Shakespeare or Grisham....
Addressing plaintiffs' equal protection challenge, the court said in part that "Drawing a line based on gender nonconformity—this includes transgender status—... triggers intermediate scrutiny." The court went on to say in part:
The record establishes that for some patients, including the three now at issue, a treatment regimen of mental-health therapy followed by GnRH agonists and eventually by cross-sex hormones is the best available treatment. These patients and their parents, in consultation with their doctors and multidisciplinary teams, have rationally chosen this treatment. The State of Florida’s decision to ban the treatment is not rationally related to a legitimate state interest.
Dissuading a person from conforming to the person’s gender identity rather than to the person’s natal sex is not a legitimate state interest....
The defendants say the many professional organizations that have endorsed treatment of gender dysphoria with GnRH agonists and hormones all have it wrong. The defendants say, in effect, that the organizations were dominated by individuals who pursued good politics, not good medicine.
If ever a pot called a kettle black, it is here. The statute and the rules were an exercise in politics, not good medicine.
Human Rights Campaign issued a press release announcing the decision.
