The mother of a transgender girl sobbed in federal court Wednesday as she contemplated having to move away from her Navy officer husband to get health care for her 12-year-old if Florida’s ban on gender dysphoria treatment for minors is allowed to take effect.
The woman, who testified as Jane Doe to protect her child’s identity, said her daughter went from being anxious and upset to a thriving, happy straight-A student after being allowed to live as a girl about eight years ago, a decision she made with her husband after several visits to their family doctor.
“I will go to the ends of the earth to get my daughter the help she needs,” the woman said, sobbing as she pulled tissues from a box. “I think, will our family be torn apart? Will we have to live somewhere else, away from my husband?”
The testimony came as a trial began challenging Florida’s ban on medical treatment for transgender children, such as hormone therapy or puberty blockers, a law pushed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who has campaigned on the issue while seeking the presidency. The law also places restrictions on adult care.
“This all started with the governor,” said Thomas Redburn, an attorney who represents trans adults and the families of trans children.
Since the beginning of the year, DeSantis has signed several anti-transgender bills into law, which critics have accused of promoting “genocidal rhetoric”.
One law made it a crime for people to use bathrooms that don’t match their sex assigned at birth; another essentially banned all medical transition treatment for minors; and another allowed health care and insurance providers to deny care based on religious or moral beliefs, Business Insider previously reported.
DeSantis also requested data on transgender health care from the state’s public universities, leaving many fearful of social or medical repercussions.
Because of the laws, some trans people have already left the state after being told they couldn’t get their previous care, regardless of their age.
Lawyer Mohammad Jazil, representing the state, said the law was about protecting people. He said some people have decided to transition back to their birth sex and have learned that their treatment has caused permanent damage.
Judge Robert Hinkle has temporarily blocked enforcement of the law pending the outcome of the case. The lawsuit also challenges restrictions on adult trans care that will be allowed to take effect during the trial.
The transgender health care trial is expected to last five days.