Opponents of a new law banning gender-affirming care for minors are cheering a decision by a federal judge to block the ban. S.B. 150 would have taken effect today. U.S. District Judge David Hale made the ruling Wednesday. Rebecca Blankenship, the executive director of the group Ban Conversion Therapy, said she thinks Hale’s ruling will survive appeals.
“We're delighted and in some ways we think that this tees up future success in the courts. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has been quite clear that transgender rights are well established and are constitutionally protected.”
Hale said the state’s argument for the ban was unpersuasive, in part because there was no evidence that state health care providers prescribe puberty blockers or hormones primarily for financial gain. Blankenship is a member of the Berea Community School Board and is the first openly transgender person to win elective office in Kentucky.
“I didn't expect that that role would entail such a hard fight for civil rights this year. But I feel that I've been thrust into this position by a legislature that seems hell bent on extracting as much pain from my community as possible.”
Hale took the side of groups like the Kentucky Medical Association, which lobbied against the bill’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for trans youth -- even with parental permission.
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