Families end challenge to Alabama ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors
Families in Alabama dropped a legal challenge to the state law that bans transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care, a decision that was celebrated by the state’s attorney general.
The plaintiffs on Thursday filed a stipulation of dismissal to end their federal lawsuit filed in 2022. The Alabama law makes it a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison to treat people under age 19 with puberty blockers or hormones to help affirm their gender identity.
The lawsuit had resulted in an injunction that stopped the Alabama law from taking effect until an appeals court in 2024 ruled the state could begin enforcing it.
Organizations representing the plaintiffs, including GLAD Law, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Southern Poverty Law Center, did not elaborate on the reasons for ending the lawsuit, but said the families have faced tough choices since the ban took effect.
“The shutting down of medical care in Alabama has forced our plaintiffs and other Alabama families to make heart wrenching decisions that no family should ever have to make, and they are each making the decisions they need to make that are right for them,” the organizations wrote.
The groups also noted that “a lot has changed” in the three years since the families filed the lawsuit, and that “it is a very challenging environment for transgender adolescents and their families.”
Alabama in 2022 was the second state to ban gender-affirming care for minors. Now, 26 states have adopted laws restricting or banning such care for minors.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the outcome of the state case is a victory for both the state and families.
“This is a generational win for children, for families, and for reality itself. Alabama refused to be bullied. Now the rest of the country is seeing the truth. We are proud to lead that effort,” Marshall said.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in early summer on whether to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.