(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Judge strikes down Florida's ban on medical care for trans kids [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-11 Score one for medicine, the family, decency, empathy, and common sense. A judge in Florida has struck down Ron DeSantis’s ban on care for transgender minors. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that the state’s crusade to ensure gender conformity, regardless of who it hurt, is unconstitutional. He could have added that it was also petty, mean-spirited, authoritarian, big government overreach — but I suppose those are not legal considerations. In his 105-page opinion, Hinkle wrote: “Florida has adopted a statute and rules that ban gender-affirming care for minors even when medically appropriate. The ban is unconstitutional.” Judge Hinkle concluded that “gender identity is real” and that a “widely accepted standard of care” includes puberty blockers and hormone treatments that Florida unlawfully banned. He added: “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,” In pointing out that the law’s purpose was to deny a patient’s gender identity — that it was not motivated by medical concerns — he laid bare the cruelty of politicians who would hurt children in a sadistic push to win elections. I do not know how many Florida legislators who passed the unconstitutional law are doctors. But I will bet the number was few to none. And yet these unqualified zealots presume to know better how to meet the medical and psychological needs of teens than doctors with years of education and professional experience. Ask one of these sanctimonious opportunists if they believe the law should restrict cancer treatments to biblical medical protocols, and I hope all, or at least the vast majority, would say “no.” But get conservatives thinking about genitalia — especially adolescent private parts — and they will insist on committee hearings. If they choose to listen to the evidence of the psychological stress trans teens suffer in a hostile world their hearts remain hardened. And they whine about “genital mutilation.” This ‘concern’ is laughable when some percentage of the men weighing in on the ‘travesty’ are missing part of their penises because of a decision their parents made before these lawmakers could even hold their heads up. Where are they on legislation banning circumcision? Hinkle knew that the law was a product of discrimination, not concern. He writes: “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.” The state is not taking its defeat lightly. Bigotry is an addiction rarely conquered. “Through their elected representatives, the people of Florida acted to protect children in this state, and the Court was wrong to override their wishes. 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.” Good old democracy. The people of various states, through their elected representatives — including Florida — have given us slavery, women as second-class citizens, Jim Crow laws, contraception bans, etc. Majorities do not equal morality. If more people want to do the wrong thing than the right thing, that does not make the wrong thing the right thing. I bet many good old boys wish emancipation had been a fad. This common-sense decision is one win for people who care about America’s youth. And it dovetails with the rise of support for women’s rights after the Dobbs decision. But the conservative need to hurt others in the pursuit of enforced orthodoxy means they will not rest in their quest to bully the weak. This is not close to being over. #vote [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/11/2246129/-Judge-strikes-down-Florida-s-ban-on-medical-care-for-trans-kids?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/