Statement on Denial of Preliminary Injunction for Florida SB 254’s Restrictions on Access to Healthcare for Transgender Adults.

September 12, 2023 (TALLAHASSEE) — A Florida federal district court judge today issued an order denying a motion to temporarily block state restrictions on access to healthcare for transgender adults contained in SB 254 while the legal challenge to the law continues.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs issued the following statement:

“The state’s restrictions on well-established health care in SB 254 serve no purpose other than to intentionally prevent transgender people from receiving the care they need. This case is far from over and we will continue to take every legal step to challenge this law that takes away Floridian’s ability to make important decisions about their own lives and hands it over to the government instead. 

We are preparing now for the trial in November at which we intend to lay out the full evidence of the state’s deliberate targeting of transgender Floridians through the harmful, arbitrary, and medically unjustified rules enacted in SB 254. We also encourage transgender Floridians and their families to seek out resources and take all the steps they can to get the essential medical care they need to live healthy and happy lives.

Florida’s SB 254 is part of a broader landscape of laws that are hurting transgender people in Florida and across the country. We will continue to challenge these dangerous bans that deliberately single out transgender people for discriminatory treatment and ignore well-established medical research until they are permanently overturned. 

All of us who believe in fairness, science, and freedom must also keep fighting on every level to ensure people in Florida and across the country can live their lives free from draconian and unlawful attacks on their health and wellbeing.”

A full trial addressing both the restrictions on adult care and the state’s bans on care for transgender adolescents is scheduled for November. The federal district court issued a prior ruling on June 6 halting enforcement of the ban on healthcare for transgender minors and saying the ban is likely unconstitutional. That order remains in effect.

The plaintiffs are represented by Southern Legal Counsel (SLC), GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD),  the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

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A note from SLC’s Transgender Rights Initiative Director:

This was a heartbreaking loss, but the fight is far from over. We are moving full speed ahead to trial, and we won’t give up until all transgender Floridians have equal access to medical care. SLC is committed to this work, and we will continue to hold the state’s feet to the fire on these discriminatory measures. We struck down the Florida Medicaid ban on treatment for gender dysphoria, we blocked enforcement of the bans on gender-affirming care for minors, and we will continue fighting for the rights of our transgender community in Florida no matter what obstacles are thrown in our path.

- Simone Chriss (she/her)

- Simone Chriss