Montgomery, AL – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has joined a coalition of 22 states in filing an amicus brief in support of Florida’s request to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Florida seeks to enforce its law regulating sex-modification procedures for minors while an appeal is underway against a district court’s order that enjoined the law. The case, Doe v. Surgeon General, State of Florida, centers on the state’s prohibition of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for gender transition in minors.
Florida’s law, similar to regulations in nearly half the U.S. states and several European countries, sets age limits on sex-change procedures for minors. In June, a federal district court permanently blocked the enforcement of this law, arguing that the Florida legislature’s motivations were based on animus against transgender individuals.
Attorney General Marshall expressed his views on the court’s decision: “Until a few years ago, the notion of providing sex-change treatments to children was practically unthinkable,” he said. “But last month, a district court credited its own view of the ‘moral universe’ over that of the people’s elected representatives, unfairly discounting as ‘animus’ legitimate concerns about providing sterilizing sex-change procedures to vulnerable youth. The Constitution plainly leaves such political judgments to the politically accountable branches of government, not federal judges.”
The amicus brief argues that the district court did not apply the required presumption of legislative good faith to Florida’s law. Instead, the court favored organizations like the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which supports providing hormonal and surgical interventions to minors identifying as transgender. The brief also referenced evidence from Alabama’s case indicating that WPATH’s recommendations were developed with input from “social justice lawyers” who allegedly discouraged seeking evidence, fearing it would undermine their policy and litigation goals.
Attorney General Marshall has been active in efforts to prevent minors from undergoing irreversible sex-change procedures. He has defended Alabama’s law and led briefs supporting similar regulations in other states. In January, the Eleventh Circuit allowed Alabama’s Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act to be enforced.
The states joining Alabama in this brief include Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
