A federal judge on Wednesday issued preliminary injunction against Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, Senate Bill 150.

In his fifteen page ruling, United States District Court Judge David J. Hale wrote: “After careful consideration, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have shown a strong likelihood of success on the merits of their constitutional challenges to SB 150 and otherwise meet the requirements for preliminary injunctive relief.”

In late March, both chambers of the Kentucky Legislature voted to override Governor Andy Beshear’s veto on Senate Bill 150, a sweeping bill that would severely restrict the lives of trans youth in the state.

The law as enacted:

• Bans gender-affirming medical care, including treatments that delay puberty, other forms of hormone therapy and surgery, for trans and nonbinary people under 18 years old. 
• Requires revoking the licenses of doctors who provide such services.
• Tells public schools to block trans students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
• Allows public school teachers to misgender trans students.
• Prevents public schools from allowing educational presentations that study gender identity or sexual orientation.

The minor plaintiffs are three transgender boys and four transgender girls who live in
Kentucky. Six are “currently receiving” treatments that would be banned under SB 150 while the seventh “anticipates needing to receive” those treatments when she begins puberty.

There had been considerable public outcry as after the Kentucky Legislature overrode Beshear’s veto.

In an emailed statement to the Blade last March, Fairness Campaign Executive Director Chris Hartman reflected on the Assembly’s actions:

“While we lost the battle in the legislature, our defeat is temporary. We will not lose in court. And we are winning in so many other ways. Thousands of Kentucky kids came to the Capitol today to make their voices heard against the worst anti-trans bill in the nation. They are our hope for a Kentucky future that is more fair, more just, and more beautifully diverse and accepting than ever before.

I applaud the brave protesters who stood their ground in the Kentucky House gallery today before being removed by Kentucky State Troopers. Their chants and pain were heard by all in the chamber and were a necessary show of the grief and harm Senate Bill 150 will cause. Transgender children and their families in Kentucky are scared, rightfully so. We will do all we can to ensure they can continue to access the life-saving medical care they deserve.”

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the group wrote: “Judge issues preliminary injunction against Senate Bill 150’s gender-affirming care ban hours before the law is set to take effect! Thank you, ACLU of Kentucky, for suing on behalf of KY Trans kids & families!”

Both chambers of the Kentucky Legislature voted Wednesday to override Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto on Senate Bill 150 that would severely restrict the lives of transgender youth in the state.

The law will:

• Ban gender-affirming medical care, including treatments that delay puberty, other forms of hormone therapy and surgery, for trans and nonbinary people under 18 years old. 
• Require revoking the licenses of doctors who provide such services.
• Tell public schools to block trans students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
• Allow public school teachers to misgender trans students.
• Prevent public schools from allowing educational presentations that study gender identity or sexual orientation.

Beshear stressed that the bill conflicted with his faith and noted the bill’s repercussions would include an increase in LGBTQ youth suicides: “My faith teaches me that all children are children of God and Senate Bill 150 will endanger the children of Kentucky.” Beshear also called it “too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.”

In an emailed statement to the Washington Blade, Fairness Campaign Executive Director Chris Hartman reflected on the Assembly’s actions:

“While we lost the battle in the legislature, our defeat is temporary. We will not lose in court. And we are winning in so many other ways. Thousands of Kentucky kids came to the Capitol today to make their voices heard against the worst anti-trans bill in the nation. They are our hope for a Kentucky future that is more fair, more just, and more beautifully diverse and accepting than ever before.

I applaud the brave protesters who stood their ground in the Kentucky House gallery today before being removed by Kentucky State Troopers. Their chants and pain were heard by all in the chamber and were a necessary show of the grief and harm Senate Bill 150 will cause. Transgender children and their families in Kentucky are scared, rightfully so. We will do all we can to ensure they can continue to access the life-saving medical care they deserve.”

According to Hartman, “Brave, devastated protesters held each other in solidarity and chanted for 30 minutes in the House gallery before being taken out in zip ties by state troopers.”

BREAKING: Police in the Kentucky State House Chamber are forcefully removing people who are protesting SB 150, which they consider to be an extreme anti-trans bill. @LEX18News pic.twitter.com/urqwPa9Ij0

— Ricky Sayer (@RickyReports) March 29, 2023

SB 150 protesters had arms linked together, preventing police from removing them all at once. @LEX18News pic.twitter.com/gd0XvdrF4L

— Ricky Sayer (@RickyReports) March 29, 2023

The Kentucky legislature voted Wednesday to override Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s veto of Senate Bill 83 and enact the measure as law, banning transgender girls from participating in sports alongside their peers from sixth grade through college. With this override of the governor’s veto, Kentucky now joins 14 other states banning trans students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity.

Senate Bill 83 (SB83), known as the Save Women’s Sports Act, would require the Board of Education or agency designated by the Board of Education to manage interscholastic athletics to promulgate administrative regulations or bylaws requiring schools that participate in interscholastic athletics to designate all athletic teams, activities, and sports based upon the biological sex of the students eligible to participate.

The law would prohibit “biological male” students from participating in athletic teams, activities, and sports designated as “girls.”

“Governor Beshear was the third governor this year to uphold the dignity of transgender and nonbinary youth, and veto an attempt by lawmakers to write them out of existence. While those young people continue to face unrelenting political attacks, the Kentucky legislature voted to override that act of courage and compassion, pushing these marginalized youth even further to the sidelines,” said Sam Ames, Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project. “This bill claimed to solve a problem of ‘fairness’ in school sports in Kentucky that didn’t exist, but its negative impacts on the mental health and well-being of trans and nonbinary youth — young people who already face disproportionate rates of bullying, depression, and suicide — are very real. To the young people in Kentucky watching tonight: you are stronger than they know. We are here for you, we will fight for you, and we are not going anywhere.”

Beshear in his veto message to lawmakers accused the legislation’s sponsors of ignoring the policies undertaken taken by the Kentucky High School Athletic Association to assure that no student-athlete who has an unfair advantage can compete. Under the association’s policy, a post-pubescent trans female must take hormonal therapy for a sufficient length of time to minimize any gender-related advantage.

The Fairness Campaign released the following statement from Executive Director Chris Hartman:

“Shame on the Kentucky General Assembly for attacking trans kids today. Shame on our commonwealth’s lawmakers for passing the first explicitly anti-LGBTQ law in Kentucky in almost a decade.

“Today, the state legislature voted to override Gov. Beshear’s veto and enact a discriminatory sports ban into law, depriving transgender girls of the opportunity to play on a school sports team, simply because of who they are.

“This law singles out the one openly transgender girl in Kentucky’s entire school system who plays on a school sports team. She started her school’s field hockey team, recruited all of the other team members, and just wanted the opportunity to play with her friends. Now Kentucky lawmakers have intervened to stop her from playing with her friends her eighth grade year.

“This bill has been so plainly about political gain and using Kentucky kids as political pawns that it is an embarrassment to our commonwealth. Instead of solving any of Kentucky’s real problems, the politicians behind this bill used their power to bully this one student and take away rights from kids who just want to play games with friends. The bill is a carbon copy of the anti-trans bills sweeping the nation this past year and ignores the policies that were already in place to ensure an equal playing field for student-athletes.

“Kentuckians deserve lawmakers that protect all kids in our community, including transgender children. The enactment of this law makes clear that the rights of transgender people and kids in Kentucky are in danger. We’re deeply committed to fighting back against this discriminatory bill and ensuring equal rights for everyone in our state.

“The fight won’t stop here. We applaud Governor Andy Beshear and all those who stood on the side of justice, including several Republicans voting alongside Democrats in the Kentucky Senate and House to uphold the governor’s veto. We look forward to the lawsuit that’s sure to come. If we can’t protect Kentucky’s trans kids in our legislature, we’ll protect them in our courts.”

Kentucky lawmakers override governor’s vetoes on abortion, transgender sports bills: