Five transgender minors and their families filed a lawsuit against state officials in Louisiana on Monday, alleging that a recently enacted law banning gender-affirming care was in violation of the state constitution’s right to privacy and other protections.
Former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, vetoed Act 466 last year. However, the Republican-led state legislature overrode Edwards’s veto, and the law, which bans hormone treatments, puberty blockers, surgery and other forms of gender-affirming care for transgender youth in Louisiana, went into effect on January 1.
Seeking to block enforcement of the law, the families filed a lawsuit in the Louisiana state court system. They are being represented by Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ legal rights organization, as well as the Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation at Harvard Law School and Louisiana-based law firm Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin.
Medical organizations have long noted that gender-affirming treatment can be greatly beneficial for trans youth. A study published in September, for example, showcased that symptoms of suicide ideation and depression among trans people decreased by half when participants were given gender-affirming treatment sooner rather than later. And a study published in early 2023 found that life satisfaction among trans people ages 12-20 increased after two years of gender-affirming treatment, while symptoms of anxiety, depression and suicide ideation decreased.
Within the lawsuit, litigants in the case described the benefits of the gender-affirming treatment they had received before the ban was implemented.
“This health care has allowed me to be happy, healthy, and my true authentic self, the boy I know I am,” said one of the minors in the case, who is going by the name of Max Moe to protect their identity. “I am terrified of what the health care ban will do and worry about how my mental health might deteriorate.”
The lawsuit from the families alleges that Act 466 violates the Louisiana state constitution’s right to privacy provisions and infringes on their parental rights to make medical decisions for their children.
“The Act’s prohibition on providing evidence-based and medically necessary care for transgender adolescents with gender dysphoria stands directly at odds with transgender adolescents’ right to obtain the medical treatment they need, as recommended by their medical providers and with the support of their parents,” the lawsuit states.
The organizations representing the families condemned the state’s wide-reaching ban on gender-affirming care.
“This Health Care Ban only stands to harm Louisiana’s trans youth and their families,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, counsel and health care strategist for Lambda Legal. “The transgender young people we represent, along with hundreds of other minors in the state, are at risk of losing necessary, life-saving medical care just because Louisiana has singled them out for discriminatory treatment.”
Suzanne Davies, senior clinical fellow at the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School, agreed, saying:
The Health Care Ban prohibits the only safe and effective treatment available for trans youth, putting their health and wellbeing at great risk. By selectively banning such treatments for trans youth, this law deprives Louisiana adolescents of equal access to medically necessary, and often life-saving care that is effective in treating gender dysphoria and addressing other serious health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and even suicidal ideation that can occur when gender dysphoria is left untreated.
According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), 22 states in the U.S. have enacted laws or policies that ban gender-affirming care for individuals under the age of 18 within their jurisdictions. Court injunctions currently block bans in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Indiana.
As a result of these bans, more than one-third of transgender youth in the U.S. (35.1 percent) live in areas where access to treatment is forbidden.
“By preventing doctors from providing this care, or threatening to take children away from parents who support their child in their transition, these bills prevent transgender youth from accessing medically necessary, safe health care backed by decades of research and supported by every major medical association representing over 1.3 million US doctors,” HRC says on its website.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $81,000 in one-time donations and to add 1250 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy