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by HRC Staff •
Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction in HRC Lawsuit Challenging the Elimination of LGBTQ Non-Discrimination Protections in Health Care
Post submitted by HRC Communications Temp Wyatt Ronan
Today, Federal District Court Judge Frederic Block issued a preliminary injunction against a recently published regulation by the United States Department of Health and Human Services which would illegally strip away critical anti-discrimination protections in the Affordable Care Act. The injunction comes after the Human Rights Campaign sued the Trump-Pence administration for advancing a rule that would have eliminated explicit protections from discrimination based on sex stereotyping and gender identity, thereby sanctioning discrimination against LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people, in health care programs and activities. The rule was scheduled to take effect on August 18 but will now be precluded from becoming operative.
This preliminary injunction means that 858,000 LGBTQ Texans will be protected from discrimination by health care providers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity until the conclusion of the lawsuit, likely after the upcoming election.
In response to the preliminary injunction, HRC President Alphonso David issued the following statement:
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two plaintiffs, both transgender women of color: Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker, an Army veteran, two-time lung cancer survivor and community leader who co-founded a statewide advocacy group for transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers, and Cecilia Gentili, an entrepreneur, activist, writer and storyteller with over a decade of experience as a patient and health care policy advocate.
Read the Court decision granting the preliminary injunction here. Read the complaint here and the Plaintiffs’ declarations here and here. HRC’s guide to best practices for creating equal access to quality health care for transgender patients can be found here.
A list of the Trump-Pence administration’s attacks on LGBTQ equality in health care can be found here.
To make a general inquiry, please visit our contact page. Members of the media can reach our press office at: (202) 572-8968 or email press@hrc.org.
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