© Eric Gay / AP fileDemonstrators gather on the steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin on May 20, 2021, to protest transgender-related legislation being considered in the Legislature.
A federal ruling that gender dysphoria is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act could help block conservative political efforts to restrict access to gender-affirming care, advocates and experts say.
A panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week became the first federal appellate court in the country to find that the 1990 landmark federal law protects transgender people who experience anguish and other symptoms as a result of the disparity between their assigned sex and their gender identity.
The ruling could become a powerful tool to challenge legislation restricting access to medical care and other accommodations for transgender people, including employment and government benefits, advocates said.
"It's a very important and positive ruling to increase people's access to gender-affirming care," said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.
The ruling is binding in the states covered by the Richmond-based 4th Circuit — Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia — but will inevitably be cited in cases in other states, said Kevin Barry, a law professor at Quinnipiac University.
The decision came in the case of a transgender woman who sued the Fairfax County sheriff in Virginia for housing her in a jail with men. The decision is not limited to transgender people challenging jail policies, but also applies broadly to all areas of society covered by disability rights law, including employment, government benefits and services and public accommodations, Barry said.
"This decision destigmatized a health condition — gender dysphoria — and it says that what Congress did in 1990 wasn't OK," Barry said.
The sheriff's office did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.
Some Republican leaders who have led efforts to limit access to transition treatment for youths have labeled it a form of child abuse. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this year, for instance, ordered the state's child welfare agency to investigate reports of gender-affirming care for children as abuse.
Comment: It's not just Republicans who view it this way. Surprisingly, many people object to the deliberate drugging and mutilation of children.
A new rule in Florida restricts Medicaid coverage for gender dysphoria treatments for youths and adults. The state health agency previously released a report stating that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex reassignment surgery have not been proven safe or effective in treating gender dysphoria.
And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is widely touted as a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, recently tweeted that children should not be able to take puberty blockers "or mutilate their body by getting a sex change."
But leading medical entities contradict those positions, Heng-Lehtinen said.
Comment: What ideologically possessed 'medical entities' have to say on the subject is neither here nor there. Common sense dictates that one should not allow children to make drastic irreversible decisions about their bodies and their health at such a young age. And the idea that the tax-payer should be footing the bill for this 'care,' is deplorable.
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