Federal Appeals Court Rules Civil Rights Act Covers Sexual Orientation

BALTIMORE – In a victory for transgender people and their families, a federal judge has granted a request for a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump’s executive orders threatening federal funding for providers of gender-affirming medical care for people under 19. The preliminary injunction extends a temporary restraining order that was previously entered in the case and was set to expire March 5. “Again, the court has ruled to ensure hospitals, doctors, and healthcare professionals in our communities can continue the work to keep our families healthy. Transgender people and their supportive parents and families are good and decent people who deserve the freedom to be themselves and to thrive. PFLAG National and our vast network of chapters, members and supporters will continue to ensure that love leads in this fight for justice for transgender people,” said Brian K. Bond (he/him), Chief Executive Officer of PFLAG National. “Today’s ruling is a crucial step in resisting the extremist agenda of the Trump administration and reaffirming that trans and non-binary people deserve dignity, respect, and access to the health care they need. This administration has tried to bully providers into abandoning their ethical obligations, but we will not back down. We will continue to fight for health professionals' freedom to do their jobs based on medical expertise—not political ideology—and for the right of every patient to receive care free from discrimination and fear,” said Alex Sheldon (they/them), Executive Director of GLMA. “Today’s decision provides relief to transgender young people, their families, and their medical providers who have been thrown into chaos by this administration,” said Joshua Block, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “This order from President Trump is a direct effort to threaten the well-being of transgender people while denying them equal protection under the law, enacted by coercing doctors to follow Trump’s own ideology rather than their best medical judgment. As Judge Hurson has said himself, it is hard to fathom a form of discrimination more nefarious than that which pretends the group of people being targeted doesn’t even exist.” “The court’s decision stopping implementation of these perverse and discriminatory executive orders targeting gender-affirming medical care removes a pall of confusion that affected medical institutions across the country and that threatened transgender young people, their families, and the medical professionals who care for them,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Senior Counsel and Health Care Strategist at Lambda Legal. “With this decision, doctors and hospitals across the country can continue to provide evidence-based, essential, and often lifesaving gender-affirming medical care to transgender people under 19 without fear of retribution.” On Jan. 28, the president signed an executive order declaring that it is the policy of the United States not to “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” gender transition for people under 19, which includes 18-year-olds who are legal adults in the states where they reside. The mandates in the order specifically focus on gender-affirming medical care, including hormones and puberty blockers. The order cross-references the definitions and other directives in a separate executive order signed by President Trump on Jan. 20, requiring discrimination against transgender people across much of the federal government and barring federal funding for entities that promote so-called “gender ideology.” In the first week after the order was signed, some hospitals across the country — in Massachusetts, New York, Washington, Colorado, and Virginia at least — abruptly halted medical care for transgender people under age 19, canceling appointments and turning away patients, including some who had been receiving this care for most of their life. This prompted protests of support for transgender youth and in opposition to the order nationwide. On Feb. 4, a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal on behalf of transgender young adults and adolescents and their families whose health care has been disrupted by President Trump’s order. Also joining the case as plaintiffs are PFLAG National, the nation’s largest organization supporting LGBTQ+ people and their families, with over 550,000 members and supporters and nearly 350 chapters across the country; and GLMA, the country’s largest organization of LGBTQ and allied health professionals. On Feb. 11, the federal judge presiding over the case in Baltimore issued a 14-day temporary restraining order prohibiting federal agencies from conditioning or withholding federal funding based on the fact that a healthcare entity or health professional provides gender-affirming medical care to a patient under nineteen. Many providers who had previously suspended care announced they would resume care under the judge’s order. On Feb. 26, the court extended the restraining order for another week until Wednesday, March 5. The preliminary injunction issued today continues that pause in enforcement while the case proceeds. The decision from the court can be found here and the order can be found here.

WASHINGTON - The Senate today rejected a bill attempting to amend a landmark civil rights law to exclude transgender students from nondiscrimination protections. S. 9, a version of which passed by a slim majority in the House of Representatives in January, would prohibit any school athletics program receiving federal funding from allowing transgender women and girls to participate in athletics programs designated for women and girls. The bill seeks to narrow the range of sex discrimination prohibited by laws like Title IX by defining sex “solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” “As anyone paying attention to the actions of the Trump administration can tell you, this bill is simply one part of a sweeping effort to push transgender people out of public life altogether,” said Mike Zamore, National Director of Policy & Government Affairs at the ACLU. “We need more attention on actually ensuring fair and equal opportunity for all girls and women, not inflicting invasive and humiliating checks and bullying on kids to serve adults’ political purposes. We are thankful to the senators who rejected this ugly effort to codify discrimination within a historic civil rights law, and we will always fight for the freedom of all young people to be themselves at school, including on the playing field.” Federal courts have consistently found in favor of transgender student-athletes challenging state-level bans on their equal participation consistent with their gender identity, and others have likewise rejected claims that the participation of transgender student-athletes unjustly denies opportunities to cisgender women and girls.

The Trump administration is attempting to push its political ideals and conservative agenda on students and restrict access to a diverse and inclusive education. Students are speaking out about how harmful these unlawful practices are.