Federal Court Denies Request To Temporarily Block Restrictions On Life-Saving Healthcare For Transgender Adults In Florida

Federal Court Denies Request To Temporarily Block Restrictions On Life-Saving Healthcare For Transgender Adults In Florida

Tallahassee, FL – A federal court has declined to put on hold provisions of Florida’s Criminalizing Gender Affirming Care law that restrict adults’ access to life-saving care. The ruling denied a preliminary injunction sought against implementation of Florida Senate Bill 254 (2023), signed into law by Governor DeSantis in May. With this ruling, Florida remains the only state in the country to impose these types of restrictions on medical care for transgender adults – restricting which licensed professionals can deliver that care and how these adults can access it.

The case is being brought by families of transgender youth represented by Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign. Their initial statement to the order by their attorneys can be found here.

Equality Florida issued the following statement in response:

“Governor DeSantis’ war on medical freedom has manufactured a healthcare crisis for transgender Floridians. The ruling maintains politically-imposed barriers to life-saving and widely accepted medical care for adults motivated by nothing other than bigotry.

This is about discriminatory government overreach into real people's lives. Every person should have the freedom to access healthcare without political interference–that includes transgender people. Free states don’t criminalize healthcare. Free states don’t go to war with doctors and patients. And free states don’t turn their own constituents into refugees who leave the state to seek treatment.

We are incredibly grateful to the brave plaintiffs who have stepped forward to challenge these dangerous policies and to the legal organizations leading the way on this case.”

New data from the Human Rights Campaign underscores the incredible damage being done to LGBTQ people by the DeSantis regime. In the LGBTQ+ Community Survey, 80% of transgender and nonbinary Floridians report that gender-affirming care bans impact their physical or mental health or that of their loved ones, 81% wanted to or took steps to relocate from Florida as a result from attacks on medical freedom, and 93% reported feeling less safe as a result of these policies. Nationwide, 62% of those surveyed said they would not consider moving to Florida as a result of restrictions on healthcare for transgender and nonbinary people.

Equality Florida has partnered with the Campaign for Southern Equality and Southern Legal Counsel to provide resources and information to impacted individuals and families, including rapid response emergency grants to help transgender Floridians access the healthcare they need. To learn more or to apply for these critical resources, visit https://southernequality.org/FLresources.