A federal court ruled this week that “gender identity is real” and that Florida’s new law that prohibits physicians from giving cross-sex hormones as well as puberty blockers to kids is partly unconstitutional.

Senate Bill 254 also makes irreversible mutilating operations illegal and also requires that a medical professional’s license be terminated if they break the legislation, according to a preliminary injunction imposed by Judge Robert Hinkle.

Hinkle said in a 44-page decision that “the elephant inside the room ought to be noted at the outset. Gender identity exists. The evidence is on the record.”

“Despite the defense team’s admissions, there are individuals who think that transgender people should not have chosen a different gender identity, regardless of male or female, similar to how one could decide whether to read William Shakespeare or Grisham,” Hinkle went on.

Hinkle’s decision revolved around three kids—two girls, age 11, and a boy, age 8—whose parents filed a lawsuit against the state’s surgeon general for prohibiting GnRH agonists, also known as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones claiming it breaches the equal protection provision of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The parents also stated that Florida was unable to “demonstrate any logical basis, or even a significant or convincing one, for the transgender medical prohibitions which stop transgender adolescents from receiving effective as well as safe medically required healthcare.”

The youngsters may still get puberty blockers thanks to Hinkle’s temporary ban.

The FDA issued a warning on GnRH drugs last year, stating that using the chemical in youngsters posed substantial dangers, including brain swelling, vision loss, as well as other adverse effects.

Six young girls between the ages of 5 and 12 were found to have pseudotumor cerebri, a brain tumor-like condition, which FDA officials stated there may be a link between taking puberty inhibitors and this condition.

The patients had vision abnormalities, headaches, and vomiting as symptoms. Blood pressure elevation and abducens neuropathy were further side effects brought on by GnRH agonists.

Formulary Watch was informed by an FDA spokesman that the instances were deemed clinically significant and that all GnRH agonist medications authorized for young patients should include warning labels.

However, Hinkle, who was chosen by former President Bill Clinton to serve on the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Florida, decided that the advantages of therapy with GnRH agonists and ultimately with cross-sex hormones would be greater than the hazards.

“Not taking these therapies has hazards, such as the possibility — in some cases, the near certainty — of anxiety, sadness, and even suicidal thoughts. The legislation under dispute overlooks the advantages that many patients get from these therapies and the significant danger involved in forgoing the treatments,” according to Hinkle.