‘JUSTICE IS SERVED’

Judges Block GOP Bans on Gender-Affirming Care in Kentucky, Tennessee

A federal judge in Kentucky called the healthcare treatments “medically appropriate and necessary for some transgender children.”

Federal judges in Kentucky and Tennessee issued temporary injunctions blocking parts of the states’ sweeping bans on gender-affirming care for transgender minors on Wednesday. In Kentucky, U.S. District Judge David Hale, an Obama-era appointee, said in his ruling that treatments covered by the ban, including puberty blockers and hormones, “are medically appropriate and necessary for some transgender children” based on the available evidence. “Justice is served today as the most egregious parts of Kentucky’s anti-trans law are struck down by a federal judge,” Chris Hartman, executive director of the LGBTQ+ advocacy-oriented Fairness Campaign, said in a statement. Hours later, U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson—a Trump appointee—similarly halted a ban on puberty blockers and hormones in Tennessee. He stopped short of blocking a ban on transgender youth accessing gender-affirming surgeries, however, according to the Associated Press.