Transgender North Carolinians file federal lawsuit challenging gender-affirming care ban for minors

The family of a transgender boy in North Carolina is suing the state to block implementation of gender-affirming care restrictions that they say will force their son to undergo a wrong-gender puberty. A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court alleges the new state law violates the U.S. Constitution by denying treatment access. Transgender youth in the Tar Heel State lost access to gender-affirming medical treatments on Aug. 16 when Republican supermajorities in the General Assembly overrode a veto from the governor. State law bars medical professionals from providing hormone therapy, puberty-blocking drugs and surgical gender-transition procedures to anyone under 18, with limited exceptions.