Two transgender teens and their parents are suing the state of Kansas over a law that bans gender-affirming care only for youth with gender dysphoria while allowing the same treatments for cisgender youth.
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Kansas on behalf of 16-year-old Ryan Roe and his mother Rebecca Roe, as well as 13-year-old Lily Loe and her mother Lisa Loe, who all opted to use pseudonyms. It accuses the state of violating the Kansas Constitution, which "guarantees equal protection under the law" for trans and gender-nonconforming people.
"Lily and Ryan have been thriving since they started receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy, but now their trusted doctors in Kansas can no longer help them, and they are at risk of unimaginable suffering from permanent physical changes inconsistent with their gender identity and untreated gender dysphoria," the lawsuit states.
The suit also asserts that the recently-enacted law "impermissibly infringes" on the parents' "fundamental right to the care, custody, and control of their children by displacing their medical decision-making authority with a government mandate, even when they, their adolescent children, and medical providers are all aligned.”
Senate Bill 63 bans gender-affirming care for trans minors diagnosed with gender dysphoria, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, while allowing the same treatments to continue for cisgender minors with “a medically verifiable disorder of sex development.” The legislation threatens to revoke the licenses of doctors who continue the treatment for trans youth.
The bill also bans government employees or institutions "whose official duties include the care of children" from affirming minors' social transitions — which can include using their preferred name and pronouns, or permitting them to dress and cut their hair in styles not associated with their assigned sex at birth — "except to the extent required by the first amendment to the United States constitution."
The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the World Medical Association, and the World Health Organization all agree that gender-affirming care is evidence-based and medically necessary not just for adults, but minors as well.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the ban in February, saying in a statement that it would be "infringing on parental rights." She added: "The Legislature should be focused on ways to help Kansans cope with rising prices. That is the most important issue for Kansans." The Republican-dominated state legislature instead voted to override Kelly's veto a week later.
"Our clients and every Kansan should have the freedom to make their own private medical decisions and consult with their doctors without the intrusion of Kansas politicians," D.C. Hiegert, Civil Liberties Legal Fellow for the ACLU of Kansas, said in a statement. "SB 63 is a particularly harmful example of politicians' overreach and their efforts to target, politicize, and control the healthcare of already vulnerable Kansas families."
