Two physicians who run a clinic in Alabama to treat children with gender dysphoria are bracing themselves now that a law that makes some of their work a crime has gone into effect.
“They always existed, but they often did not have the feeling of empowerment to come out, or come out to their physicians,” he said. “And now that they are, we’re hitting them back with legal action.”
Four Alabama families with transgender children have filed a lawsuit challenging the new state law as unconstitutional. The U.S. Department of Justice has joined the suit. A federal judge heard evidence this week on a request to block the state from enforcing the statute while the legal challenge goes forward. More than 20 medical and mental health organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, have also urged the judge to block the law. A decision is expected sometime this week.
Abdul-Latif, who is originally from Jordan, and pediatrician Dr. Morissa Ladinsky both moved to Alabama years ago to work as instructors and physicians at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In 2015, after seeing more families with kids identifying as trans and seeking help for gender-related issues, they decided to found a clinic to treat children with gender dysphoria. They now treat more than 150 young people who are transgender or gender diverse.
But that wasn’t all. She also had taken a route to work each morning that brought her by the spot where Ohio transgender teen Leelah Alcorn had stepped in front of an oncoming tractor-trailer in 2014. Leelah left a suicide note that read, “My death needs to mean something. ... Fix society. Please.”Some of the children Abdul-Latif and Ladinsky have treated in the Birmingham clinic came to them after suicide attempts, the doctors said. One patient tried to kill themselves five times, he said.
Abdul-Latif said he understands that some people may be skeptical over the medical treatments for transgender kids.“But to make it into a law and make it into a felony — that is way beyond skepticism,” he said, adding that the law “basically closes ... a very important dialogue in the country about what is better and what is best for kids with gender dysphoria.”
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