LGBTQ issue image

Poe v. Labrador

Location: Idaho
Status: Ongoing
Last Update: December 20, 2023

What's at Stake

A 2023 Idaho law criminalizing gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth is being challenged in federal court by two transgender adolescents and their families. HB 71, signed into law by Idaho Governor Brad Little in May 2023, prohibits gender-affirming medical care that is widely accepted to treat gender dysphoria, helping alleviate the distress of gender dysphoria and significantly improving patients’ mental health and well-being. Such treatment is supported by leading medical experts and all major U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In a 2023 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Idaho, Wrest Collective, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone LLP, two Idaho families assert that HB 71, signed into law by Governor Brad Little earlier this year, violates the rights of transgender youth and their parents under the U.S. Constitution.

Pam Poe is an Idaho native and a transgender teenager receiving gender-affirming medical care criminalized by HB 71. She has a part-time job and loves engineering, programming, and math. Pam lives with her parents Penny and Peter Poe who are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging HB 71.

Jane Doe is a lifelong resident of Idaho and a transgender teenager receiving gender-affirming medical care criminalized by HB 71. When she is not at school, she likes to play video games, listen to music, and go on walks. She is interested in computer science and coding, and she plans to go to college after she graduates high school. She lives with her parents, Joan and John Doe, who are also plaintiffs in this case.

HB 71 bans puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and certain surgeries if they are used to affirm the gender of transgender youth, and threatens medical providers who provide this widely accepted care with a felony conviction and up to 10 years in prison.

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