UPDATE: The Texas Attorney General’s office has already filed a “Notice of Accelerated Interlocutory Appeal” directly to the Texas Supreme Court in Loe, et al. v. State of Texas, et al, seeking to negate the 201st Judicial District Court’s ruling enjoining SB 14 from going into effect. According to a press release from the OAG, this filing stays the district court ruling pending a decision by the Texas Supreme Court.

The 201st Judicial District Court of Travis County has just granted an injunction pausing the state’s newly-passed medical care ban targeting transgender youth.

The Texas district court announced the decision this afternoon (Friday, Aug, 25) following a hearing last week on Senate Bill 14. The Texas Attorney General’s office is expected to appeal the injunction, and if it does, attorneys for the plaintiffs said today they will “seek emergency relief from the appellate courts.”

Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Paul D. Castillo said, “We are elated by the court’s ruling, which strikes a blow against this outrageous attempt to ban necessary and often life-saving medical care for Texas’ transgender youth, cut off access to medical care for adolescents already receiving treatment, and require the state to revoke the medical licenses of physicians providing the best standard of care to their transgender patients. We will continue to fight for our clients and for all transgender youth in Texas until this dangerous law is permanently set aside.”

ACLU of Texas attorney Brian Klosterboer, calling the law “blatantly unconstitutional,” added, “As Texans, we believe that each one of us should have the freedom to be ourselves and have access to best-practice medical care that we need for ourselves and our children without facing cruel discrimination or bullying designed as policy. Trans Texans shouldn’t have to go to court to defend their basic rights, and we will keep advocating for our clients every step of the way.”

Transgender Law Center Legal Director Lynly Egyes said plaintiffs and their attorneys “join in celebration with our partners to show all youth in Texas, and across this country, that no matter your gender, your race, or the neighborhood you live in, trans youth and their families will have the freedom to make the medical decisions that are best for them.” And Elizabeth Gill, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, noted, “Across the country, countless transgender youth are having their well-being threatened and their lives uprooted by dangerous and unconstitutional bans like SB 14. Every day that those young people are protected from hatred and able to access the care they need is a victory, but we won’t stop fighting until these laws are permanently erased from the record and the rights and lives of people like our clients are protected and safe.”
SB 14 is scheduled to go into effect next Friday, Sept. 1. If it is allowed to take effect, it will ban necessary medical care in Texas for treating gender dysphoria in transgender youth and would require the state to revoke the medical licenses of physicians who provide such care to their trans patients.

Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, ACLU, Transgender Legal Center, Lambda Legal and the law firms Scott Douglass & McConnico LLP and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP argued for the injunction in court last week. The lawsuit was filed in July on behalf of five Texas families, three medical professionals and two organizations serving hundreds of families and health professionals across the state.

The five Texas families challenging this law come from across the state have transgender children and teenagers who “would be irreparably harmed if SV 14 goes into effect,” according to a press release from the plaintiffs’ attorneys. They said the bill’s passage has resulted in families splitting up or planning to leave Texas to continue treatment for their children.

The families are suing pseudonymously to protect themselves and their children, who are transgender Texans between the ages of 9 and 16.

One of the plaintiffis PFLAG, the “nation’s first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ people and those who love them.” Another plaintiff is GLMA, “the oldest and largest association of LGBTQ and allied health professionals, including those who treat LGBTQ patients.”

GLMA Executive Director Alex Sheldon called the ruling granting the injunction “a testament to the unwavering dedication of Texas families and the medical expertise of GLMA’s health professional members, who with each testimony have clearly demonstrated that gender-affirming care is evidence-based, life-saving care. Although this was just one battle of many, we remain steadfast in our commitment to fight for the rights of trans youth and health care providers offering gender-affirming care in Texas and throughout the nation.”
PFLAG National CEO Brian K. Bond said the court “made the right decision … Every trans kid deserves access to safe, medically necessary, scientifically proven gender-affirming care, and PFLAG will continue to support our Texas families as we work to end the harm of this unjust law.”

See a copy of the injunction here.

Any person at risk of being affected by these restrictions should reach out to Lambda Legal.

Access a fact sheet about the lawsuit here.
Access the lawsuit here.