On April 18, 2019, National Center for Lesbian Rights, joined by 12 other groups dedicated to ensuring the treatment of LGBTQ people, filed an amicus brief in Minton v. Dignity Health, a case brought by Evan Minton, a transgender man whose hysterectomy was suddenly cancelled by a Dignity Health hospital due to religious reasons after the hospital learned Mr. Minton was transgender.

The lawsuit, filed in state court in California, alleges that Dignity Health’s cancellation of the hysterectomy because Mr. Minton is transgender violates California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibits businesses from discrimination based on sex, including gender identity. The San Francisco Superior Court dismissed the case, and Mr. Minton appealed.

NCLR’s amicus brief, filed in California’s First Appellate District, explains the critical importance of access to healthcare for transgender people and describes the pervasive nature of discrimination against transgender people in health care settings. The brief also describes the severe and lasting harms that transgender people experience when refused medical care due to anti-transgender bias.

On September 17, 2019, in a unanimous decision, the First Appellate District reversed the dismissal of Mr. Minton’s lawsuit, allowing the lawsuit to proceed in the trial court. On December 18, 2019, the California Supreme Court denied Dignity Health’s petition for review. On November 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Dignity Health’s petition for certiorari.