RALEIGH — The Trump administration has withdrawn the federal government’s Statement of Interest from a lawsuit over a 2023 North Carolina law barring gender transition surgery and hormone blockers for minors.
A Feb. 27 filing withdrew the October 2023 Statement of Interest (SOI) in the case of Victor Voe v. Thomas Manfield, et al. The filing was signed by acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina Randall Galyon, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice Mac Warner and other Department of Justice officials.
“H.B. 808 prohibits the care and coverage of medically necessary care for transgender minors, while leaving non-transgender minors free to receive the same procedures and treatments and have them paid for with state funds,” stated the 2023 Biden administration filing. “H.B. 808 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their equal protection claim.”
Former Biden administration’s Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke and U.S. Attorney for North Carolina’s Middle District Sandra Hairston were the primary filers of the 2023 SOI.
The initial complaint was filed Oct. 11, 2023, by the family of a then-9-year-old Durham transgender boy. Due to the child’s minor status, they are described in the lawsuit as “Victor Voe.” In addition to Voe, Riley Smith, a local physician, and two LGBTQ rights advocacy organizations are included in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit involves North Carolina Session Law 2023-111 (House Bill 808), which prohibits gender transition procedures for minors, including the use of hormone blockers. Despite the suit directly involving a legislature enacted law, it does not list the General Assembly as a defendant.
House Bill 808 was vetoed by then-Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on July 5, 2023.
“A doctor’s office is no place for politicians, and North Carolina should continue to let parents and medical professionals make decisions about the best way to offer gender care for their children,” Cooper wrote in his veto message. “Ordering doctors to stop following approved medical protocols sets a troubling precedent and is dangerous for vulnerable youth and their mental health. The government should not make itself both the parent and the doctor.”
The veto was overridden Aug. 16 with no Democratic support in the Senate and two Democrats voting to override in the House.
