Two advocacy groups have asked a federal court to halt President Donald Trump’s executive order that federal grantees not offer transgender procedures to children and teenagers under the age of 19.
“President Trump does not have unilateral power to withhold federal funds that Congress has authorized and signed into law, and he does not have the power to impose conditions on the use of funds when Congress has not delegated to him the power to do so,” the filing reads.
PFLAG, previously known as Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and GLMA, also known as Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ+ Equality, were the two groups filing the motion along with various individuals using pseudonyms. They filed a broader lawsuit against Trump in his official capacity and the Department of Health and Human Services in Maryland on Feb. 4.
According to their court filing, some of the plaintiffs have been denied access to hormones, puberty-blocking devices, and a “chest masculinization surgery” after Trump’s order.
For example, the filing states that one of the plaintiffs, known as “Bella Boe,” “is a 12-year-old transgender adolescent” who “is fearful and scared about her body changing permanently during a male puberty.” It adds that after Trump’s order, New York University “told Bella’s father Bruce that it had shut down all appointments related to gender affirming medical care, including Bella’s future appointment to receive” a “puberty-delaying implant.”
Trump’s order decried what it described as chemical and surgical mutilation of children, which included puberty blockers and other interventions.
The Supreme Court heard oral argument in December 2024 over Tennessee’s law banning these types of procedures on minors. That law caused one of the plaintiffs’ families to move from Tennessee to Virginia, according to the Feb. 5 filing. It describes the situation of “W.G.,” who “is a 17-year-old transgender adolescent living in Virginia.”
The filing states that “Willow’s family was able to schedule an appointment with the Children’s Hospital of Richmond for January 29, 2025, so that Willow could continue hormone treatment.” That hospital is part of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center.
“A few hours before the appointment, however, a member of the VCU staff told Willow’s mother Kristen that, due to [Trump’s order], VCU would no longer be able to provide Willow’s necessary medical treatment,” it states.
Echoing arguments at the Supreme Court, the plaintiffs said that Trump’s order constituted a form of sex discrimination.
The lawsuit followed others targeting the Trump administration’s attempt to implement a government-wide spending freeze as directed by a memo that cited various executive orders, including one that criticized gender ideology and declared a policy of recognizing two sexes: male and female.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rescinded that memo after it was blocked by a federal judge, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that a spending freeze was still in place because of Trump’s executive orders.
“This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze,” she said on social media. “It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo.”
She added that Trump’s executive orders “on federal funding remain in full force and effect and will be rigorously implemented.”
On Feb. 5, a group of 15 state attorneys general released a statement criticizing Trump’s order and indicated the ultimate effect of another federal judge in Rhode Island blocking the spending freeze was that funding would continue to flow to organizations that provide transgender procedures.
“If the federal administration takes additional action to impede this critical funding, we will not hesitate to take further legal action.”
