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Seven Florida families will add a challenge to SB 254 to their pending lawsuit against the bans issued by the state’s Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine

May 4, 2023 (TALLAHASSEE) – Seven Florida parents who are currently challenging state Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine rules banning established medical care for their children and other transgender adolescents will also ask a federal court to block provisions in SB 254, passed by the Florida legislature today, that would codify into state law the current Boards of Medicine bans and create additional barriers for families with transgender adolescents.

The families are represented by Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and the Human Rights Campaign, which issued the following statement:

Today the state of Florida has doubled down on denying science, intruding on family privacy and parental decision-making, and trampling on the rights and wellbeing of transgender adolescents. The bill passed by the legislature today interferes even further with families, deliberately provoking conflict by inviting challenges to established custody orders. This exacerbates the state of emergency for parents who are already being forced to watch their kids suffer rather than get them the effective healthcare they need and that will allow them to thrive. We will take swift action to ask the federal court to block the ban on access to essential healthcare in SB 254, as well as the Boards of Medicine bans, to stop further harm to transgender youth and their families while the plaintiffs’ case continues.

Similar bans on established medical care for transgender youth have been blocked by federal judges in Alabama, Arkansas, and Missouri.

Read more about the pending lawsuit, Doe v. Ladapo

More information on the safe, effective, and well-established guidelines on medical care for transgender youth.

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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 

Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) 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