Louisiana families sue to overturn gender-affirming care ban

Five Louisiana transgender youth and their families have sued to overturn the state’s law banning gender-affirming care for trans minors.

The suit, Soe v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, contends the law violates the Louisiana state constitution and the rights of transgender adolescents and their parents to dignity and equal protection. It was filed Monday in Civil District Court for Orleans Parish.

Louisiana lawmakers passed the legislation, Act 466, by overriding Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’s veto in July. It went into effect this month. It bans puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries for the purpose of gender transition for minors. Health care workers who violate the law are subject to discipline by licensing boards and can be sued.

“By selectively banning treatments for transgender youth, the Act deprives Louisiana transgender adolescents of medically necessary and often life-saving care that has proven to be effective in treating a transgender adolescent’s gender dysphoria and addressing the depression, anxiety, and other serious health conditions that can result from untreated gender dysphoria,” the suit says.

“The Minor Plaintiffs, along with hundreds of other minors in Louisiana, are thus poised to lose access to safe, effective, and well-established necessary medical care because Louisiana has singled them out for a discriminatory treatment in violation of the guarantees to equal protection of the laws and equal dignity provided by the Louisiana Constitution.”

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Lambda Legal, the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School, and the Louisiana law firm of Schonekas, Evans, McGoey and McEachin are representing the plaintiffs in the suit.

“This health care ban only stands to harm Louisiana’s trans youth and their families,” Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, counsel and health care strategist for Lambda Legal, said in a press release. “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. Louisiana has prohibited this medical care only for minors who are transgender, despite it being evidence-based, safe, and effective, and being supported by all major medical organizations. Denying medical care to youth just because they are transgender is both unlawful and inhumane —especially when the same treatments remain available to all other minors. The health care ban represents broad government overreach into the relationship between parents, their children, and their health care providers.”

“Trans youth deserve to access health care on the same footing as everyone else,” added Suzanne Davies, senior clinical fellow at the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School and one of the lawyers representing the Plaintiffs. “This new, harmful policy attacks Louisiana youth who suffer from gender dysphoria and whose doctors have determined they require access to gender-affirming care. 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.”

“The health care ban is so upsetting,” said Max Moe, a plaintiff in the suit. “Growing up, I was intensely self-conscious of my body, which led to a near-constant state of discomfort. Oftentimes I was incredibly uncomfortable and anxious and even found it hard to talk. However, being able to access gender-affirming hormones and be my true self has been a lifesaver. I am now far more comfortable and confident and feel less distress. This health care has allowed me to be happy, healthy, and my true authentic self — the boy I know I am. I am terrified of what the health care ban will do and worry about how my mental health might deteriorate.” The young people in the suit, all identified by pseudonyms, range in age from 9 to 16.

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Edwards has now left office due to term limits. His successor, anti-LGBTQ+ Republican Jeff Landry, was sworn in Monday. Landry was previously the state’s attorney general. The new attorney general, Liz Murrill, also sworn in Monday, will be in charge of defending the law.

Twenty-two states have passed laws banning some or all gender-affirming care for trans minors. Several of the laws have been blocked by courts while lawsuits proceed, and one, in Arkansas, has been struck down in court, but that ruling is on appeal. Most recently, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a ban on gender-affirming care but then issued an executive order banning gender-affirming surgeries for minors — which are almost never performed — and directed state agencies to draft administrative rules that will make it almost impossible for either trans youth or adults to access any gender-affirming care.

Pictured: An LGBTQ+ celebration in New Orleans