BREAKING: Judge overturns Florida's law banning child sex changes

On Tuesday, a federal judge struck down a law from Florida that bars minors from getting puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones for sex change interventions if a parent consents to treatment. He compared to law to discrimination against minorities and women. 

Senior Judge Robert Hinkle stated in his opinion that Florida went too far by barring trans-identified minors from being prescribed puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones if they have parental consent, per the Associated Press.  

Hinkle, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, quoted Martin Luther King Jr. and compared getting the treatment as a minor to women and minorities fighting for civil rights.  

“Some transgender opponents invoke religion to support their position, just as some once invoked religion to support their racism or misogyny,” Hinkle said in the over 100-page decision. “Transgender opponents are of course free to hold their beliefs. But they are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender. In time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished. To paraphrase a civil-rights advocate from an earlier time, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” 

Governor Ron DeSantis blasted the ruling, saying, “Through their elected representatives, the people of Florida acted to protect children in this state, and the Court was wrong to override their wishes."

“As we’ve seen here in Florida, the United Kingdom, and across Europe, there is no quality evidence to support the chemical and physical mutilation of children. These procedures do permanent, life-altering damage to children, and history will look back on this fad in horror," the governor added. 

Treatment for child sex changes has come under heavy scrutiny in recent months, with the release of the WPATH files and other reports suggesting that blockers as well as cross-sex hormones can subject children to irreparable damage to their mental and physical health.

In the release of the WPATH files, it was reported that "World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) members demonstrate a lack of consideration for long-term patient outcomes despite being aware of the debilitating and potentially fatal side effects of cross-sex hormones and other treatments." WPATH has been the decision-making body for much of the sex change treatment for tran-identified people internationally.