North Carolina's Gender-Affirming Care Ban for Transgender Youth Faces Legal Challenge

LGBTQ+ rights group Lambda Legal announced on Wednesday that it filed a federal lawsuit in the Middle District of North Carolina challenging HB 808, a law in the state that prohibits the provision and state-funded coverage for gender-affirming care for minors.

Lambda Legal healthcare strategist and legal counsel Omar Gonzalez-Pagan explained in a press call that along with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) and two private law firms, the advocacy group represents several plaintiffs.

One of the plaintiffs, a 9-year-old transgender boy, Victor Voe, and his parents, Vanessa and Vance, live in the state and are affected by the prohibition of care. Out of respect for the family’s privacy, they use a pseudonym.

PFLAG National; GLMA, an association that seeks to advance LGBTQ+ equity in health care; and Dr. Riley Smith, a North Carolina family physician, are additional co-plaintiffs.

Gonzalez-Pagan said the law violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which provides for equal protection under the law; parent’s fundamental rights to make decisions for their children; and the Affordable Care Act; and the Affordable Car Act by prohibiting Medicaid coverage.

He said children and parents should not have their rights curtailed because the child is trans.

Related: 80% of LGBTQ+ People Feel Less Safe Due to Gender-Affirming Care Bans

NHeLP senior attorney Catherine McKee explained that challenging HB808 is a continuation of the organization’s effort to fight these laws as it has in Wisconsin. She explained that young people who cannot access gender-affirming care through Medicaid cannot afford to receive this necessary medical treatment.

PFLAG National CEO Brian Bond thanked co-plaintiffs GLMA, Dr. Riley Smith, and the Voe family. Bond pointed out the hypocrisy among legislators who, on the one hand, scream about parents’ rights and, on the other, want to deny loving parents the opportunity to work with their kids and their doctors to determine what care they need.

GLMA executive director Alex Sheldon noted that healthcare should be in the hands of health professionals. They explained that as a nonbinary person living in North Carolina, they understand the first-hand damage the legislation has on the community. They said that under the law, medical providers can either comply with the law and harm their patients or violate the law and risk losing their medical licenses, thereby making it impossible for physicians to do their jobs.

Sheldon highlighted that care that is otherwise legal for cisgender people is made illegal for the care of transgender patients under the current legislation.

Smith, who treats patients with gender dysphoria through gender-affirming care, said that the evidence is clear that keeping this care from patients has detrimental effects on them.

Gonzalez-Pagan said that he is not in the business of speculating on how quickly a court will move, but he has said that the group seeks a preliminary injunction against the law.

HB 808 passed the Republican-controlled legislature and was enacted into law after Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed the legislation in July. GOP lawmakers overrode that veto in September.