It is imperative the people engineering, funding, and carrying out the propaganda campaign and enacting the laws and policies against transgender people must face 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 18 U.S.C. § 241, & 18 U.S.C. § 242 prosecution. We can't just eventually win an election and be safe from them, they have to be imprisoned, and fined, and deprived of the privilege of seeking office, until the Social Conservatives are as politically dead as the Whigs and Know Nothings.
I hate to be a downer, but what you're suggesting is an incredibly heavy lift.
The first citation is about suing public officials, the second is about conspiracy, the third is about official actions under color of law. What all have in common is that they involve violations of rights secured either under the Constitution or by federal law.
There is no federal law establishing a right to GAC (or any health care, for that matter - note that Medicare, the ACA, and the like are about access to care, not a right to it). Even the Biden-era protections were an Executive Order based on an interpretation of Title IX and rescinded by The Orange Overlord.
Nor is there any established Constitutional right to GAC or even just to being transgender. In fact, in US v. Skrmetti, upholding a Tennessee ban on GAC for youth, the Scurrilous Six majority said the ban is valid because it merely "removes one set of diagnoses," that is, gender dysphoria, "from the range of treatable conditions” so no violation of rights was involved. I expect any claim that denial of access to GAC violates a Constitutional right would likely be treated dismissively.
The closest I think we could come now is Bostock v. Clayton County, but since that was about employment, not health care and preceded Skrmetti (2020 vs. 2025) I doubt it would be persuasive.
"There is no federal law establishing a right to GAC "
But there are certainly laws prohibiting state and federal interference in rights to property, commerce, etc.
"Nor is there any established Constitutional right to GAC or even just to being transgender."
And yet the whole purpose of the constitution is that there never needs be any such right in the constitution, but that there must be a power given to government to contravene what rights a citizens have which are otherwise presumed to be plenary.
On the first point, the established power of a state to regulate commerce, in this case the practice of medicine, is exactly what SCOTUS relied on in Skrmetti, arguing that's what Tennessee did: regulate the practice of medicine.
On the second, it's true that the 9th Amendment refers to "enumerated" rights and that a right not being listed does not mean it doesn't exist. But that does not mean that any given non-enumerated right exists legally, rather it must be discovered, usually by implication of those that are.
For example, a right of married couples to obtain contraceptives was found in to exist within the "penumbra" of the 4th Amendment's relation to personal privacy. The principle was later extended to cover unmarried couples and still later to strike down sodomy laws, but legally, that right didn't exist until 1965.
So it seems to me the only way to pursue the suits and prosecutions you suggest is to establish an overall right to health care and then have GAC be an accepted right within that, so that it could not be regulated out of bounds.
Like I said, an incredibly heavy lift.
And as a footnote, all this is without considering the impact of the Constitution's ban on ex post facto laws on your hoped-for prosecutions.
The fact is that these laws are a constitutionally impermissible attempt to force some some boys to have and grow up with breasts and periods, and, to force some girls to have and grow up with beards and deep voices. It is an attempt to mandate that they be abused with their own sex -- there is no trace of evidence otherwise. Child abuse is already illegal.
I was addressing the legal landscape facing the course you argued for. I stand by it.
Now you are arguing that laws barring GAC (particularly puberty blockers) are "constitutionally impermissible" even though Skrmetti, by virtue of upholding Tennessee's ban, said they are valid.
So at least you have to overcome that barrier. That alone makes it a heavy lift. Doesn't mean it can't be done, but do not pretend it would be anything short of that.
As for ex post facto, you are proposing criminalizing actions that were not considered criminal at the time they were performed, which at the least raises ex post facto concerns. While child abuse laws already exist, the application of them to deny access to GAC doesn't; in fact, it is far more common to hear the opposite, to hear the transmisics and reactionaries screaming that GAC is "child abuse" and some places - Texas, for example, have proposed prosecuting parents on just that basis.
Morally and ethically, as you say, "those in favor of these laws have no case." But unhappily, as someone (I don't recall who) said, "The law is not about justice. The law is about the law." And that is what we're dealing with here.
Bottom line and I think the end from my side: Not impossible. But know how hard it will be to get there and the obstacles to be overcome.
The only way we’re gonna be rid of this persecution of our countries citizens and especially the LGBTQIA and my Transgender community in particular, is to rid ourselves from the Fascists and their Fascist Government and Billionaire Oligarchs and the Insane MAGAT CULT Republicans and Milquetoast Centrist Democrats in our entire country’s political system! The Corrupt government and their corrupt billionaire masters will never leave until We Remove them by Force! If you’re Trans get armed before they pass laws against us owning them, which they are actively trying to do! The CULT wants a government sponsored GENOCIDE Against all of the Transgender People’s and LGBTQIA EVERYWHERE! And they want the same thing for all people of color and different backgrounds who aren’t WHITE MEN and are WHITE SUPREMACIST FALSE CHRISTIANS! Women will completely lose their rights and will become indentured slaves to White Supremacist MICRO-PENISES with Giant Beer Bellies and Big Fat Unintelligent Minds and Loud Obnoxious VOICES, spouting lies and propaganda all day long! But they are the ones who will be against the wall for their decades long hatred and treason against the World’s Humanity and the People of America! It’s time for White Americans to Stop being Slaves to your WHITE PRIVILEGE and start being a part of the Whole World Community! We are all ONE SPECIES…HUMANS!!! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
These bills may also have a chilling effect for pharmacists. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if chains like CVS and Walgreens decided to stop administering GAC meds, claiming fear of litigation. These large entities are big fans of complying in advance.
Sometimes I wish that the utter disdain for us on the part of conservatives and ambitious politicians who fan the flames would be less subtle - just arrest us and throw away the keys, please. But then I remember that every trans person who decamps from Florida for a blue state is bust for the former and a boon for the latter. And, I remain convinced that most Floridians will see the foolishness of such bigotry and pettiness. Still, I sympathize deeply with the poor trans Floridians, or their brave families, who must make the choice to stay or leave the Sunshine state.
I guess Florida Republicans were feeling left out- they haven't been much in the news since they earned their state its stripes on Erin's map. They must've been afraid we might forget they were at the forefront of this bullshit culture war.
Don't worry, Florida Republicans. We're not going to forget. Long after everyone else has washed their hands of this wretched chapter of history, and tried to erase their role in shaping it, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 remember you.
It is imperative the people engineering, funding, and carrying out the propaganda campaign and enacting the laws and policies against transgender people must face 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 18 U.S.C. § 241, & 18 U.S.C. § 242 prosecution. We can't just eventually win an election and be safe from them, they have to be imprisoned, and fined, and deprived of the privilege of seeking office, until the Social Conservatives are as politically dead as the Whigs and Know Nothings.
I hate to be a downer, but what you're suggesting is an incredibly heavy lift.
The first citation is about suing public officials, the second is about conspiracy, the third is about official actions under color of law. What all have in common is that they involve violations of rights secured either under the Constitution or by federal law.
There is no federal law establishing a right to GAC (or any health care, for that matter - note that Medicare, the ACA, and the like are about access to care, not a right to it). Even the Biden-era protections were an Executive Order based on an interpretation of Title IX and rescinded by The Orange Overlord.
Nor is there any established Constitutional right to GAC or even just to being transgender. In fact, in US v. Skrmetti, upholding a Tennessee ban on GAC for youth, the Scurrilous Six majority said the ban is valid because it merely "removes one set of diagnoses," that is, gender dysphoria, "from the range of treatable conditions” so no violation of rights was involved. I expect any claim that denial of access to GAC violates a Constitutional right would likely be treated dismissively.
The closest I think we could come now is Bostock v. Clayton County, but since that was about employment, not health care and preceded Skrmetti (2020 vs. 2025) I doubt it would be persuasive.
"There is no federal law establishing a right to GAC "
But there are certainly laws prohibiting state and federal interference in rights to property, commerce, etc.
"Nor is there any established Constitutional right to GAC or even just to being transgender."
And yet the whole purpose of the constitution is that there never needs be any such right in the constitution, but that there must be a power given to government to contravene what rights a citizens have which are otherwise presumed to be plenary.
On the first point, the established power of a state to regulate commerce, in this case the practice of medicine, is exactly what SCOTUS relied on in Skrmetti, arguing that's what Tennessee did: regulate the practice of medicine.
On the second, it's true that the 9th Amendment refers to "enumerated" rights and that a right not being listed does not mean it doesn't exist. But that does not mean that any given non-enumerated right exists legally, rather it must be discovered, usually by implication of those that are.
For example, a right of married couples to obtain contraceptives was found in to exist within the "penumbra" of the 4th Amendment's relation to personal privacy. The principle was later extended to cover unmarried couples and still later to strike down sodomy laws, but legally, that right didn't exist until 1965.
So it seems to me the only way to pursue the suits and prosecutions you suggest is to establish an overall right to health care and then have GAC be an accepted right within that, so that it could not be regulated out of bounds.
Like I said, an incredibly heavy lift.
And as a footnote, all this is without considering the impact of the Constitution's ban on ex post facto laws on your hoped-for prosecutions.
"Like I said, an incredibly heavy lift."
Really, you are looking at this wrong.
The fact is that these laws are a constitutionally impermissible attempt to force some some boys to have and grow up with breasts and periods, and, to force some girls to have and grow up with beards and deep voices. It is an attempt to mandate that they be abused with their own sex -- there is no trace of evidence otherwise. Child abuse is already illegal.
Those in favor of these laws, have no case.
I'm so glad you showed you have no idea what ex post facto means.
I was addressing the legal landscape facing the course you argued for. I stand by it.
Now you are arguing that laws barring GAC (particularly puberty blockers) are "constitutionally impermissible" even though Skrmetti, by virtue of upholding Tennessee's ban, said they are valid.
So at least you have to overcome that barrier. That alone makes it a heavy lift. Doesn't mean it can't be done, but do not pretend it would be anything short of that.
As for ex post facto, you are proposing criminalizing actions that were not considered criminal at the time they were performed, which at the least raises ex post facto concerns. While child abuse laws already exist, the application of them to deny access to GAC doesn't; in fact, it is far more common to hear the opposite, to hear the transmisics and reactionaries screaming that GAC is "child abuse" and some places - Texas, for example, have proposed prosecuting parents on just that basis.
Morally and ethically, as you say, "those in favor of these laws have no case." But unhappily, as someone (I don't recall who) said, "The law is not about justice. The law is about the law." And that is what we're dealing with here.
Bottom line and I think the end from my side: Not impossible. But know how hard it will be to get there and the obstacles to be overcome.
Aha, another historian!! Love this.
Florida’s SB1010 and HB743 don’t “protect children.”
They criminalize care, silence educators and counselors, and terrorize LGBTQ+ youth and their families.
These bills turn doctors into felons, teachers into targets, and kids into political weapons.
They weaponize the state against evidence-based medicine, free speech, and basic human dignity.
This is government overreach at its most dangerous: punishment instead of care, fear instead of facts, ideology instead of rights.
Florida lawmakers should reject SB1010 and HB743 and stop legislating cruelty.
Children deserve safety, privacy, and support — not prosecution and stigma.
Annnd, we're back to bad news.
The only way we’re gonna be rid of this persecution of our countries citizens and especially the LGBTQIA and my Transgender community in particular, is to rid ourselves from the Fascists and their Fascist Government and Billionaire Oligarchs and the Insane MAGAT CULT Republicans and Milquetoast Centrist Democrats in our entire country’s political system! The Corrupt government and their corrupt billionaire masters will never leave until We Remove them by Force! If you’re Trans get armed before they pass laws against us owning them, which they are actively trying to do! The CULT wants a government sponsored GENOCIDE Against all of the Transgender People’s and LGBTQIA EVERYWHERE! And they want the same thing for all people of color and different backgrounds who aren’t WHITE MEN and are WHITE SUPREMACIST FALSE CHRISTIANS! Women will completely lose their rights and will become indentured slaves to White Supremacist MICRO-PENISES with Giant Beer Bellies and Big Fat Unintelligent Minds and Loud Obnoxious VOICES, spouting lies and propaganda all day long! But they are the ones who will be against the wall for their decades long hatred and treason against the World’s Humanity and the People of America! It’s time for White Americans to Stop being Slaves to your WHITE PRIVILEGE and start being a part of the Whole World Community! We are all ONE SPECIES…HUMANS!!! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
These bills may also have a chilling effect for pharmacists. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if chains like CVS and Walgreens decided to stop administering GAC meds, claiming fear of litigation. These large entities are big fans of complying in advance.
There must be alligator crap or something in the water that makes Florida politician's brains become smooth and mushy.
Cue balls. Smooth and no gray mater.
The matter is likely gray, but only because it's rancid.
Thanks for the report, S. Baum.
Sometimes I wish that the utter disdain for us on the part of conservatives and ambitious politicians who fan the flames would be less subtle - just arrest us and throw away the keys, please. But then I remember that every trans person who decamps from Florida for a blue state is bust for the former and a boon for the latter. And, I remain convinced that most Floridians will see the foolishness of such bigotry and pettiness. Still, I sympathize deeply with the poor trans Floridians, or their brave families, who must make the choice to stay or leave the Sunshine state.
Is it just me or is this a violation of the 1A?
It violates lots of them, but probably not the 3rd. IYKYKYK?
I guess Florida Republicans were feeling left out- they haven't been much in the news since they earned their state its stripes on Erin's map. They must've been afraid we might forget they were at the forefront of this bullshit culture war.
Don't worry, Florida Republicans. We're not going to forget. Long after everyone else has washed their hands of this wretched chapter of history, and tried to erase their role in shaping it, 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 remember you.
I’m confused… did the bills actually PASS or not?
It just made it through committee. It hasn't been ratified by the full House or Senate. So it hasn't passed. Yet.
Thank you for the clarification - that is an important distinction.
GET PUT OF FLORIDA!