Arkansas to urge appeals court to revive gender transition ban for minors

Jun 23, 2021; Saint Paul, MN, Saint Paul, MN, USA; A Trans Pride flag is waved at Allianz Field. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports

(Reuters) – A federal appeals court is expected this Wednesday to consider whether to revive a first-of-its kind Arkansas law prohibiting doctors from providing puberty blockers, hormones and surgery as part of gender transition treatment.

The oral argument scheduled before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St Louis, Missouri comes as Republican-led states around the country move to pass new laws restricting transgender youth’s access to medical care, participation in sports and use of bathrooms and changing rooms. The Arkansas case has garnered widespread attention as an early legal test of such measures.

Arkansas was the first state to ban certain gender-transition treatments to minors in April 2021, with state lawmakers overriding a veto by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson to pass the measure, known as HB1570. Arizona, Alabama and Texas have since passed similar measures.

Several families of transgender minors ranging in age from 9 to 16, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued to block the law, saying it would cut off their ability to access necessary healthcare. Doctors who treat transgender patients are also plaintiffs in the case.

U.S. District Judge James Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas last July blocked the law shortly before it was to take effect, finding that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

On appeal, the state argued that Moody had “created a new fundamental right” under the 14th Amendment by recognizing transgender status as a “suspect classification,” meaning that a law affecting transgender people is subject to heightened scrutiny. They also said the state law was based on scientific evidence that gender transition care was harmful, and said the judge had ignored that evidence.

In response, the plaintiffs said the treatments banned by the law were supported by every major medical association in the country, and urged the court to uphold Moody’s finding that the law discriminated against transgender people.

Numerous amicus briefs have been filed in the case on both sides. Twenty-one Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights groups, a group of Arkansas businesses and the U.S. Justice Department have all weighed in on the side of the plaintiffs.

Nineteen Republican-led states filed a brief in support of Arkansas, as have traditional conservative groups including the Family Research Council and a self-described feminist group, the Women’s Liberation Front, that opposes legal rights for transgender people.

The Attorney General’s office and the ACLU could not immediately be reached for comment late on Friday.

The case is Brandt et al v. Rutledge et al, 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 21-2875.

For the state: Deputy Solicitor General Dylan Jacobs

For the plaintiffs: Chase Strangio of the American Civil Liberties Union

Read more:

U.S. judge blocks Arkansas ban on gender-transition treatments for children

New U.S. state laws directed at transgender youth

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