Transgender
Thankful for the courage of Alabamians
It’s very difficult to look at Alabama’s problems and think that we can fix them. We have seen appalling gun violence and next to no interest in addressing it from officials and lawmakers. They’re far more interested in chasing women seeking out-of-state reproductive health care. Not to mention transgender youth getting health care critical to […]
Flyer attacks candidate’s gender identity days before Democratic runoff for Alabama House seat
A Democratic candidate for the Alabama House of Representatives has been attacked by a flyer targeting her gender identity, days before a runoff for the party nomination. The flyer, which does not have identifying information on it, said Sylvia Swayne, seeking the Democratic nomination in House District 55 in Birmingham, “was born to be a […]
Alabama Attorney General wants to enforce ban on gender-affirming medication
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Thursday asked a federal court to allow the state to enforce a ban on gender-affirming medication for minors while the families of transgender youth file an appeal. Seeking a stay of a preliminary injunction against the law, attorneys with the state argued that they are likely to succeed on the […]
Lawyers for families in Alabama’s transgender case request full 11th Circuit hearing
Lawyers representing transgender minors Monday filed a request for the entire U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a three-judge panel’s decision last month to allow Alabama’s ban on gender-affirming medication to go into effect. The attorneys argued the opinion from U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa “departs from centuries of precedent regarding parental authority […]
Suicide prevention is a priority for me now
Editor’s note: This commentary discusses grief, loss and suicide. I live in an old Denver building with six units, one of which was occupied, until recently, by a mathematician. I met this neighbor several years ago when I asked permission to enter her apartment, because I was looking for the building’s main water shut-off valve, […]
Alabama transgender medicine ban: Attorneys want full rehearing on federal court ruling
Attorneys representing transgender youth challenging Alabama’s ban on medication used in gender-affirming care want a full federal circuit to consider the case. GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), part of the legal team representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement Monday that the request for an en banc hearing, coming a week after a three-judge […]
Alabama AG’s office insists that Rachel Levine’s emails are relevant to ongoing legal battle
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office Friday stood by assertions that a federal official who is transgender should be designated an email custodian in a lawsuit over Alabama’s ban on medication for transgender youth. “The United States refuses to turn over emails that it has apparently already searched and that are responsive to search terms it […]
Throwing Alabama’s children and physicians to the wolves
Three federal judges exposed Alabama physicians to felony charges last week. But U.S. Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa wanted everyone to know it was complicated. “This case revolves around an issue that is surely of the utmost importance to all of the parties involved: the safety and wellbeing of the children of Alabama,” Lagoa wrote in […]
‘We felt pretty betrayed:’ Transgender youth, families in Alabama angered over court decision
When she heard a federal court had allowed Alabama to criminalize medicine for transgender youth, Cardelia Howell-Diamond wanted to cry. Out of anger. “We felt pretty betrayed by the U.S. court system,” she said. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction on a 2022 Alabama law […]
DOJ asks court to deny Alabama’s request to add Rachel Levine to transgender health case
The U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal court Monday to deny a motion from the Alabama attorney general’s office to add Adm. Rachel Levine, the assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as a custodian in the ongoing legal battle over the state’s ability to enforce a ban […]
Federal appeals court lifts injunction against Alabama’s ban on medicine for transgender youth
A federal panel Monday allowed Alabama’s ban on medical care for transgender youth to go into effect, reversing a injunction from a lower court judge issued last year. “The plaintiffs have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right to ‘treat [one’s] children with transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards,’” […]
Federal judge blocks Georgia from enforcing ban on hormone therapy for transgender minors
Georgia families contemplating hormone therapy for their minor transgender children will have more time to make a decision after a federal judge temporarily blocked Georgia’s ban on the treatments Sunday. Georgia’s Senate Bill 140 went into effect July 1, preventing doctors from prescribing estrogen or testosterone to transgender people under 18, with exceptions for minors […]