- By Sam Cabral
- BBC News, Washington
Image source, Getty Images
At least 20 states have enacted laws prohibiting transgender minors from accessing gender reassignment treatment
A US federal judge has struck down an Arkansas law that prohibits doctors from providing gender transition treatment for transgender youth.
The southern state is the first in the country to pass such a law that blocks minors’ access to hormonal or surgical treatments.
At least 19 other states have imposed similar restrictions in the two years since.
But the ruling on Tuesday found that Arkansas failed to prove its law about “protecting children”.
The state leadership vowed to appeal against the verdict.
The decision, by US District Judge Jay Moody, could have implications for similar measures in other Republican-led states.
During the eight-day trial of the ban, the judge heard from children, parents and doctors, who said that the children’s lives changed for the better with the transfer of treatment. Meanwhile, the state called four expert witnesses who questioned the safety of that treatment and the reliability of research on gender dysphoria, as well as two adults who “de-transitioned”.
In his ruling, Judge Moody wrote that the state “failed to provide sufficient evidence that the prohibited treatments were ineffective or experimental”, while the plaintiffs showed that the treatment “relieves significant clinical pain associated with gender dysphoria in adolescents”.
He said banning hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery for anyone under 18 violates the rights of transgender children and their families under the US Constitution.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said the state would appeal, adding: “There is no scientific evidence that any child can benefit from these procedures, while the consequences are devastating and often permanent.”
Arkansas Republicans introduced the law in April 2021, overriding a veto by then-Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who criticized it as a “big government overreach”.
Supporters of the bill argue that it should regulate medical decisions that have “detrimental and often permanent” consequences for young people.
The non-profit group American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the law on behalf of four transgender teenagers, their families and two doctors.
One plaintiff, 17-year-old Dylan Brandt, who testified at the trial, said he was “very grateful” to the judge.
“My mom and I want to fight this law not only to protect my health care, but also to make sure that transgender people like me are safe and fully live our truths,” she said. .
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she will challenge the decision through an appeal.
“This is not ‘care’ – these are activists pushing a political agenda at the expense of our children and subjecting them to permanent and harmful procedures,” he wrote on Twitter.
“In the leftist vision of the American left it is not worth protecting children.”
The court’s decision Tuesday could set a precedent for the ACLU to challenge seven other state bans on hormonal or surgical treatments for transgender minors.
Similar laws in Alabama, Florida and Indiana have also been struck down by federal courts.
“We hope this sends a message to other states about the weakness of these laws and the many harms that will come from their passage,” said Chase Strangio, the ACLU’s deputy director for transgender justice.
