Judge calls DeSantis ban on transgender care unconstitutional

A federal judge blocked most of a law championed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that strictly limited transgender health care for adults and banned it completely for children.

In his decision, U.S. District Judge Robert L. Hinkle rejected a common mantra of the DeSantis administration, saying that “gender identity is real,” and that the state cannot deny transgender individuals treatment.

“Florida has adopted a statute and rules that ban gender-affirming care for minors even when medically appropriate,” Hinkle wrote. “The ban is unconstitutional.”

The decision on a lawsuit filed by parents of transgender children and also adults was hailed by many in the LGBTQ community as a significant victory.

One of the Floridians who sued, Lucien Hamel, said the decision was a relief.

“The state has no place interfering in people’s private medical decisions, and I’m relieved that I can once again get the healthcare that I need here in Florida,” Hamel said in a statement released by the lawyers who represented him and others in the case.

DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern said the state will appeal the decision.

“Under Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida will continue to fight to ensure children are not chemically or physically mutilated in the name of radical, new age ‘gender ideology,’ ” Redfern wrote in an email.