No Longer About Kids: Florida Judge Allows Trans Adult Ban For Large Swaths Of Care

Anti-trans organizations have said that their position against gender affirming care center on "protecting kids." Now, a Florida judge has allowed them to proceed with their next target: trans adults.

Several weeks ago, a federal judge in Florida halted a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, declaring it likely unconstitutional. Yet, transgender adults were also heavily impacted by the law: 80% of gender-affirming care providers for trans adults in the state were forced to stop. Consequently, many found themselves forced to flee the state, temporarily or permanently, in order to access care. Those forced to stay clung to the hope that the provisions targeting them might also be overruled. However, those hopes suffered a setback when the 11th Circuit Court determined that discriminating against transgender individuals in healthcare would be allowed, at least in the short term. Relying on this verdict, the Florida Judge Monday declined to block the sections affecting trans adult care. Now, the precedent has been set for adult care bans, a stark contradiction to some anti-trans activists' assurances that their sole aim was to "protect children."

Earlier this year, Florida passed SB254. The bill did not only prohibit gender-affirming care for transgender youth, but also casted stringent requirements for care on trans adults. Specifically, the laws bars nurse practitioners from administering care and mandates that providers distribute inaccurate medical forms, laden with misleading narratives, suggesting treatments are experimental. This was a substantial change, as the vast amount of trans adult care is provided by nurse practitioners. A representative from a clinic in the state, SPEKTRUM Health, estimated that 80% of such care would be affected. Further, the new informed consent form dictates a pre-requisite of "social support" before a trans individual embarks on care, despite many trans adults losing social support from their families after they transition. Though the initial discussion centered on the effect of the bill on trans youth, trans adults across the state suddenly saw their prescriptions dropped by their providers as a result.

Letter received by one patient in Florida indicating their care would be dropped.

As lawsuits challenged the new law, these adult provisions took effect. Early objections to Florida's legislation honed in on its impact on transgender youth. Judge Hinkle, overseeing the federal case against the law, robustly countered familiar rhetoric from anti-trans campaigners and paused the portions of the law targeting youth from taking effect. Drawing from the lawmakers' own utterances, he deduced that SB254’s provisions targeting trans people stemmed from entrenched bigotry — one lawmaker, for example, referred to trans people as “demons, mutants, and imps” in legislative deliberations. In a defining pronouncement for the court's record, Hinkle asserted, "gender identity is a reality," declaring that the law discriminating against trans individuals was likely unconstitutional.

Simultaneously, another legal battle unfolded in Alabama, bearing striking parallels to the Florida case. In Eknes-Tucker v. Marshal, an Alabama statute targeting gender-affirming care for trans youth was temporarily blocked as likely unconstitutional. Yet, on August 21, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals took a contrary stance, overruling the Alabama decision. The court held that bans on transgender medical care didn’t infringe upon the Constitution, citing that such care wasn’t “deeply rooted in our nation’s history and tradition.” This rationale might ring a bell, as it mirrors the reasoning used to overturn Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case. This verdict, delivered by a primarily Republican panel, suggested that not only care for trans youth, but also broader trans medical care, could be lawfully banned — a judgment that forced Judge Hinkle’s hand in Florida.

Following Eknes-Tucker, Judge Hinkle released a short three page ruling denying an injunction for the Florida law targeting adults, referring to the case:

Reference to Eknes-Tucker v. Governor of Alabama in Florida Judge’s statement on SB253’s adult provisions.

The stark reality is now inescapable: legislations targeting the medical care of transgender adults have taken root, despite the claims of anti-trans activists that they are trying to “protect children” with these laws. Florida's new provisions represent the first significant restrictions on trans adult care to fully materialize. This has led to numerous trans people seeing their care evaporate. Finding doctors who are both willing and able to provide the needed care has become difficult, especially with rising caseloads from nurse practitioners being forced to drop their patients. Coupled with other regulations targeting the trans community in Florida, like the contentious bathroom ban, an exodus is underway. Estimates suggest that between 130,000 and 260,000 individuals have relocated nationally, with countless others contemplating the move. For many still in the state, this recent legal pivot could be the breaking point that leads to their own departure.

The trajectory is unmistakably set: 2024 is poised to see an expansion in adult care restrictions. At present, clauses in national funding bills would prohibit federal funding for all gender-affirming treatments, not solely for trans youth — these clauses could trigger a looming shutdown fight. Just last year, several states weighed legislation to raise the eligible age for such care to 21 or even a staggering 26 years of age. Tennessee debated a proposal to prevent any insurer offering adult transgender care from partnering with TennCare, its predominant insurance initiative. Entities like Genspect and Transgender Trend advocate for prohibitions extending to the age of 25. Concurrently, prominent conservative figures such as Matt Walsh have championed an outright cessation of all transgender medical care — including adult trans care.

Matt Walsh calling for a ban to all trans care.

Although neither the Florida ruling nor the 11th Circuit's decision are conclusive, they've taken shape as preliminary benchmarks, potentially paving the way for even stricter measures. Globally, authoritarian regimes, as seen in Russia and Hungary, have intensified their clampdown on transgender adults. Alarmingly, the United States stands at the precipice of treading a similar trajectory. What began merely as a dialogue on transgender youth in sports just a few years ago has spiraled, revealing there is no bottom to which anti-trans policymakers might go to further restrict trans people in every way imaginable.