Transgender 9-Year-Old Sues State For Access to Medical Care

Amid a continuous battle in many states across the U.S. over the ban on transgender health care for youth, a transgender 9-year-old is suing North Carolina for access to gender-affirming medical care.

As of August, at least 22 states have enacted laws banning or restricting gender-affirming care for minors and most of the bans are being challenged in court, according to the Associated Press. In August, North Carolina became the next state to enact the ban when Republican lawmakers overrode Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's veto of a measure banning medical professionals from providing hormone therapy, puberty-blocking drugs and surgical gender-transition procedures to anyone under 18, with limited exceptions. According to WRAL News, Victor Voe, a 9-year-old from Durham, North Carolina, who identifies as a boy, is suing the state claiming the new state law is unconstitutional.

According to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday, the state law will block Voe from receiving medical care to help transition genders for nearly a decade, unless the law is struck down in court.

"Victor is transgender. He knew from a very young age that his gender identity did not match his sex assigned at birth, and he generally lives as the boy he is in every aspect of life. However, with his puberty approaching, Victor will soon need medical care that is prohibited by the Health Care Ban," the lawsuit states.

Joining the minor's lawsuit are his parents, a local doctor and several LGBTQ rights groups, while State leaders of the Department of Health and Human Services and the North Carolina Medical Board were named as defendants in the lawsuit since they are tasked with enforcing the new rules on the ban.

Newsweek has reached out to the North Carolina Medical Board and Roy Cooper via email for further comment.

This comes after many conservative states have continued to push for gender-affirming restrictions, especially regarding minors as supporters of the bans argue that transgender people should wait until they are legally adults before making these decisions.

This led to House Bill 808 being passed in North Carolina while Republican Senator Joyce Krawiec, the bill's primary sponsor, argued the state has a responsibility to protect children from receiving potentially irreversible procedures before they are old enough to make their own informed medical decisions.

Critics say gender-affirming care restrictions are an infringement on the rights of families to make their own health decisions.

In addition, according to AP, major medical organizations including the American Medical Association have opposed the bans on gender-affirming care for minors and supported the medical care for youth when administered appropriately.

The American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirmed its support for the treatments in August and voted to conduct an external review of research regarding the care.

These bills are just some of the 321 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced or debated in 2023 reported by the ACLU, which surpasses the record 315 anti-LGBTQ bills in 2022, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Meanwhile in other states, like Alaska, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and California, legislators have made strides in protecting access to care for transgender people. For example, in Alaska, gender-affirming care is covered under Medicaid.

Newsweek has also reached out to Equality North Carolina for further comment.