Federal judge rules that Florida’s transgender health care ban discriminates against state employees

A federal judge has ruled that Florida’s transgender health care ban discriminates against state employees and violates their civil rights. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled Thursday that the state’s ban violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects employees and job applicants from employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 by three current and former state employees against the Florida Department of Management Services. The employees had challenged the denial of medically necessary treatment for their gender dysphoria under the state’s categorical exclusion of coverage for “gender reassignment or modification services or supplies.”