Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Wednesday, slammed the decision by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle to reverse the 2023 Florida law and regulations prohibiting the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy to treat children for gender dysphoria.
“Because it’s wrong to mutilate minors, it is wrong. It is wrong to perform a sex change on a 16-year-old. You’re not allowed to get a tattoo, but somehow, you can have your privates cut off. Give me a break. This is wrong,” said DeSantis at a press briefing in Tampa.
A federal judge in Florida blocked a state law restricting gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The law, championed by Governor Ron DeSantis and Republican leaders, would have imposed heavy sanctions on doctors providing such care and required extensive informed consent forms.
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U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle, who previously issued a preliminary injunction in the case, delivered a ruling declaring that “gender identity is real” and comparing opposition to transgender people to historical discrimination like racism and misogyny.
The law and its associated rules were approved by state medical boards and aimed to regulate the use of puberty blockers and hormones for transgender youth. However, the judge’s ruling prevents state health officials from enforcing these restrictions, citing their discriminatory nature.
The case was brought forward as a class-action lawsuit by parents of transgender children and a transgender man. While the state is appealing the preliminary injunction at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Hinkle’s permanent injunction represents a significant victory for transgender rights advocates in Florida.
“I would also say this is already been decided by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. They upheld Alabama’s law, which was almost identical to Florida’s law. This will be reversed; there’s no It’ll be reversed. Think about it: when the founding fathers were creating the Constitution and when the first Congress passed the Bill of Rights or even when they passed the Reconstruction amendments in the 1860s?” said DeSantis.
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“Do you think a single person involved in that thought that there was a constitutional right? To do this genital mutilation, it’s ridiculous. Of course, a state can protect children against this, and we had very powerful testimony of how this is irreversible, but this idea of using tax dollars because, like the media will point out ‘Oh the state is spending money to do’. So if you say that we shouldn’t do that, you’re saying that any liberal judge should be able to veto the policy of the State of Florida because they go to the same judges every time we lose, almost every time we win on appeal, almost every time. That’s what happens,” blasted DeSantis.
“So, if you’re not willing to defend Florida’s duly enacted statutes against liberal jurisprudence, then you’re basically saying the people of Florida shouldn’t govern themselves and that we should just turn over our destiny to some trial judge somewhere that I refuse to do. We are going to stand up for duly enacted statutes. We’re going to stand up for protecting the innocence of these kids,” said DeSantis.
In a comprehensive 101-page ruling issued on Tuesday, the judge affirmed that “gender identity is real” and drew parallels between the opposition faced by transgender individuals and historical prejudices like racism and misogyny.
“Transgender opponents are, of course, free to hold their beliefs. But they are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender. In time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished. To paraphrase a civil-rights advocate from an earlier time, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Hinkle wrote.
“In the meantime, the federal courts have a role to play in upholding the Constitution and laws. The state of Florida can regulate as needed but cannot flatly deny transgender individuals safe and effective medical treatment — treatment with medications routinely provided to others with the state’s full approval so long as the purpose is not to support the patient’s transgender identity,” he continued.
A DeSantis spokeswoman said the governor’s administration intends to appeal the decision Tuesday, “We disagree with the court’s erroneous rulings on the law, on the facts, and on the science. As we’ve seen here in Florida, the United Kingdom, and across Europe, there is no quality evidence to support the chemical and physical mutilation of children. These procedures do permanent, life-altering damage to children, and history will look back on this fad in horror,” spokeswoman Julia Friedland said in an email.
“Florida will continue to fight to ensure children are not chemically or physically mutilated in the name of radical, new age ‘gender ideology,’” said Friedland.
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