This morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit heard oral arguments in Doe v. Ladapo, a constitutional challenge to Florida's law and rules that bar families from accessing medical care for their transgender adolescent children, and place unprecedented restrictions on care for transgender adults. 

After conducting a full trial, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a final ruling on June 11, 2024, finding the law and rules unconstitutional and unenforceable on equal protection grounds. Applying the framework established in Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., the District Court found that the evidence demonstrated the Florida law and rules were motivated by purposeful discrimination against transgender people and could not survive constitutional scrutiny.

The Florida defendants appealed the case to the Eleventh Circuit, which temporarily stayed Judge Hinkle's order in September 2024. This means the challenged bans and restrictions are currently in effect, blocking access to needed medical care for some transgender Floridians while the appeal proceeds. The Eleventh Circuit's decision will have significant implications for how courts analyze similar restrictions being enacted across the country.

Jane Doe, on behalf of herself and her daughter Susan Doe (proceeding anonymously): “It is demoralizing and heart-wrenching to live in a state that has politicized my child’s very existence, weaponizing the power of the state to attack her basic rights and dignities. As a mother who simply wants to protect and love my child for who she is, I pray that the Eleventh Circuit will affirm the district court’s thoughtful and powerful order, restoring access to critical healthcare for all transgender Floridians. No one should have to go through what my family has experienced.” 

Lucien Hamel, on behalf of himself: “As a transgender adult just trying to live my life and care for my family, it is so demeaning that the state of Florida thinks it’s their place to dictate my healthcare decisions. Members of the legislature have referred to the high quality healthcare I have received, which has allowed me to live authentically as myself, as ‘mutilation’ and ‘an abomination’ and have called the providers of this care ‘evil.’ We hope the appellate court sees these rules and laws for what truly are: cruel.” 

The plaintiffs in Doe v. Ladapo are represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC), National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), Southern Legal Counsel (SLC), Lowenstein Sandler LLP, and Jenner and Block LLP. Adam Unikowsky, partner at Jenner and Block LLP, argued for the plaintiffs-appellees today.

“The state has invested inordinate sums of time, energy, and taxpayer dollars into eroding the rights of transgender Floridians in recent years,” said Simone Chriss, Director of the Transgender Rights Initiative at Southern Legal Counsel. “The state has loudly and proudly enacted bans on transgender people accessing healthcare, using bathrooms, transgender teachers using their pronouns and titles, and a slew of other actions making it nearly impossible for transgender individuals to live in this state. The District Court reviewed the extensive record evidence in this case to conclude that the rules and law banning medically necessary healthcare for transgender minors and restricting access to such care for transgender adults were motivated by animus, not science or evidence. The state has not and cannot justify its intrusion into the medical decision making between patients, families, and medical providers.”   

“Every parent just wants what's best for their kids. By denying access to critical medical care for transgender youth and adults, the state of Florida is causing unnecessary harm and cruelly forcing families to navigate heartbreaking circumstances simply for supporting their children,” said HRC Vice President of Legal Sarah Warbelow. “These bans ignore science and unfairly target transgender people—and the district court agrees. When presented with the facts about these healthcare bans, courts overwhelmingly recognize their unconstitutionality. We urge the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to do the same.” 

“The district court’s finding of purposeful discrimination by the Florida defendants is solidly grounded in the evidence it heard during a three-day trial,” said Thomas Redburn, partner at Lowenstein Sandler LLP. “The defendants have offered nothing on appeal that could serve as a valid basis for overturning that finding.”

“The record is clear that this ban was not based in medical science, it was passed to harm transgender adults, children and their families in Florida,” said Jennifer Levi, Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLAD Law. “Not only does this dangerous law take away parents’ freedom to make responsible medical decisions for their child, it inserts the government into private health care matters that should be between adults and their providers.”

“Transgender adults don’t need state officials looking over their shoulders, and families of transgender youth don’t need the government dictating how to raise their children,” said Shannon Minter, Legal Director of NCLR. “The district court heard the evidence and found that these restrictions are based on bias, not science. The court of appeals should affirm that judgment.”  

Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) works to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation. www.glad.org 

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community. www.hrc.org 

The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Since its founding, NCLR has maintained a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and the LGBTQ community’s most vulnerable. www.nclrights.org 

Southern Legal Counsel, Inc. (SLC) is a Florida statewide not-for-profit public interest law firm that is committed to the ideal of equal justice for all and the attainment of basic human and civil rights. SLC's Transgender Rights Initiative protects the rights of Florida's LGBTQ+ community through federal impact litigation, policy advocacy, and individual representation. www.southernlegal.org