Florida’s ban on puberty blockers for minors has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge who recognizes the reality of gender identity.

Federal Judge Partially Strikes Down Florida Law Banning Puberty Blockers for Minors

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against Florida’s new law banning doctors from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to minors. The ruling partially strikes down Senate Bill 254, which also criminalizes permanent mutilating surgical procedures and mandates that a healthcare practitioner’s license be terminated if they violate the law.

“The elephant in the room should be noted at the outset. Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear.”

Judge Hinkle’s ruling centered around two 11-year-old girls and one 8-year-old boy whose parents filed a lawsuit against the state’s surgeon general. They argued that banning GnRH agonists known as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone prescriptions violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The temporary block from Hinkle allows the children to continue receiving puberty blockers.

Benefits Outweigh Risks

Last year, GnRH substances received a warning from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), saying the drug could cause brain swelling, loss of vision, and serious risks for children injecting the hormone. However, Judge Hinkle ruled that the benefits of treatment with GnRH agonists, and eventually with cross-sex hormones, would outweigh the risks.

“There are risks attendant to not using these treatments, including the risk — in some instances, the near certainty — of anxiety and depression and even suicidal ideation. The challenged statute ignores the benefits that many patients realize from these treatments and the substantial risk posed by foregoing the treatments.”

Hinkle added that cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers also treat non-trans-identifying children for other conditions.

Let Kids Be Kids Bill Package

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law last month with four other bills to protect children from harmful leftist initiatives, including mutilating surgical procedures, radical gender theory in schools, and sexually explicit drag shows. The law also requires adults receiving these surgeries and hormones to be informed about the irreversible nature and dangers, grants Florida courts temporary emergency jurisdiction to intervene and halt procedures for out-of-state children, and creates a pathway to recover damages for injury or death resulting from mutilating surgeries or experimental puberty blockers given to a minor.

DeSantis’ office has not commented on the ruling. However, he said in a news release while signing the Let Kids Be Kids bill package, “Florida is proud to lead the way in standing up for our children. As the world goes mad, Florida represents a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy.”