BOISE — The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho and partners at national ACLU won an important step in the lawsuit Robinson v. Labrador, originally filed as Roe v. Labrador. The lawsuit challenges House Bill 668, which bans public funds and public facilities from being used for providing gender-affirming medical care. The lawsuit alleges that categorically denying incarcerated individuals with gender dysphoria access to necessary, safe medical care is a violation of their Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
Today, a federal judge certified a class of incarcerated individuals to challenge HB 668 and preliminarily enjoined the state from enforcing the law to deny hormone therapy to prisoners in Idaho prisons.
“We are thrilled that the judge recognized the real and unnecessary harm that Idaho’s incarcerated people would suffer if suddenly cut off from their prescribed medication,” said Paul Carlos Southwick, ACLU of Idaho Legal Director. “We are grateful that this class action lawsuit will protect the rights of both our plaintiffs and all incarcerated people diagnosed with gender dysphoria. People who are serving time have a right to access health care, adequate food, and housing conditions while in the state’s care, and we are grateful those rights were upheld today.”
Originally, the lawsuit was filed using the pseudonyms Jane Roe and Jane Poe, but the two plaintiffs have since dropped those pseudonyms and opted to use their legal names, which are not the names they go by today. Katie Heredia, whose legal last name Robinson is listed as lead plaintiff, and Rose Mills have decided to drop their anonymity to tell their stories and the stories of their fellow transgender inmates.
“I’m not [a plaintiff in the lawsuit] because I want recognition. I’m doing it because it has to be done,” Katie Heredia, the primary plaintiff, said. “We are just normal people who happen to be trans. We have medical conditions and deserve access to medical treatment.”
“We really are human beings who just want to be treated like everybody else,” said Rose Mills, the other plaintiff on the lawsuit. “This decision [to ban public funding for gender-affirming health care] was not people-led. It was just a few people who decided that, and the public needs to know that.”
“We are proud of the lead plaintiffs in our class action lawsuit for standing up for their community and challenging the state to protect their rights, especially in a legislative environment that is growing more and more hostile to transgender people,” said Emily Croston, ACLU of Idaho Staff Attorney. “The reality is that the state has a responsibility to the people in its care, and it is unconstitutional to abdicate that responsibility. That is contrary to the values against government tyranny that our country was founded on.”
“All transgender people deserve to have access to medically necessary care, including those who are incarcerated. Gender dysphoria is a serious medical condition that cannot be deliberately ignored by the Idaho Department of Corrections. We are relieved that the Court has ordered that this care continue until we can get this clearly unconstitutional law struck down permanently," said Malita Picasso, Staff Attorney for ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project.