Parents of Four Trans Youth Sue Florida Over Care Bans

The parents of four Florida transgender children are suing the state over its ban on gender-affirming care for minors, according to the Human Rights Campaign organization.

The HRC, Southern Legal Counsel and others filed the lawsuit Thursday in Tallahassee federal court, arguing that the rules violate the rights of parents to make decisions about the health and wellbeing of their children.

The Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine in February voted to make the changes, which took effect last week.

“The transgender medical bans violate this fundamental right by preventing the parent plaintiffs from obtaining medically necessary care for their minor adolescent children,” the lawsuit states. “By intruding upon parents’ fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their adolescent children, the transgender medical bans are subject to strict scrutiny.”

They said the bans “also violate the guarantees of equal protection by banning essential medical treatments needed by the adolescent Plaintiffs because they are transgender.”

The case’s defendants, which include Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and members of the state’s Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine, “cannot demonstrate any rational basis, much less an important or compelling one, for the transgender medical bans which prevent transgender adolescents from getting safe and effective medically necessary healthcare,” the lawsuit argues.

One of the suit’s plaintiffs, using the pseudonym Jane Doe, said she wants nothing more “than for our daughter to be healthy, happy and safe.”

“Being able to consult with our team of doctors to understand what our daughter is experiencing and make the best, most informed decisions about her care has been critically important for our family.”

Ten states have enacted laws or policies restricting access to gender-affirming health care for minors since 2021.