A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that parts of Florida’s ban of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender children and restrictions on gender-affirming healthcare for adults are unconstitutional and ordered that it not be enforced.
Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the restrictions into law in 2023, banning people under the age of 18 from receiving puberty blockers or hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria, though the law allowed children who had begun receiving gender-affirming care before May 17, 2023, to continue to do so with new restrictions.
The law, part of a slew of restrictive legislation in recent years advanced by Republicans to regulate the lives of transgender people, also imposed new restrictions on adults receiving gender-affirming healthcare.
“Gender identity is real,” he wrote in his order, ruling that it was unconstitutional to discriminate against transgender people. “In time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished.”
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Article URL : https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-strikes-down-florida-ban-gender-affirming-healthcare-2024-06-11/