Alabama
Alabama Families Continue to Appeal to Block Transgender Care Ban
The Alabama families challenging the state law that criminalizes gender-affirming care for trans minors have asked the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to review a ruling by a three-judge panel of the court.
The panel, consisting entirely of judges appointed by Donald Trump, last month lifted an injunction issued by a lower court that blocked most provisions of the law from being enforced while the lawsuit is heard. So it is now in effect.
The three judges said Judge Liles Burke of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama used the wrong legal standard in issuing the injunction. “The plaintiffs have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right to ‘treat [one’s] children with transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards,’” the ruling stated.
They cited Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade and its national guarantee of abortion rights. In Dobbs, the high court found that when determining if a right is a substantive one guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution’s due process clause, courts must decide if it is “deeply rooted in [our] history and tradition” and “essential to our Nation’s ‘scheme of ordered liberty.’”
The 11th Circuit panel’s ruling also said the Alabama law does not amount to discrimination based on sex or transgender status and is therefore subject only to the lowest level of constitutional review.
The families in the suit, who have trans children, and their lawyers disagree. “In their request for rehearing, the plaintiffs argue the full court should review the panel decision because it conflicts with Supreme Court and 11th Circuit precedent dictating that all laws discriminating based on sex should be subjected to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause, and because the ban violates parents’ longstanding right to make medical decisions for their children, rather than cede that power to the state,” says a press release from the groups representing the families.
These groups are GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Human Rights Campaign.
“Our clients and other Alabama families have a right to protect their transgender children and ensure they get the support they need,” Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in the press release. “The panel’s decision tramples on that right and conflicts with clearly established Supreme Court and 11th Circuit law. We hope the full court will review this case and prevent this devastating criminal ban from taking effect.”
“Allowing [the Alabama law] to take effect would serve no purpose other than preventing parents from obtaining the medical care their children need,” added Scott McCoy, deputy legal director for LGBTQ rights and special litigation at the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Every federal district court that has heard the evidence presented has come to the same conclusion: the established medical treatments recommended for transgender adolescents are safe, effective, and lifesaving for some youth, and there is no legitimate reason to ban them.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the gender-affirming care ban into law early in May 2022. Burke issued the injunction later that month. The law makes it a felony to provide gender-affirming care to minors, with violation punishable by a prison term of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $15,000.
Burke’s injunction blocked the law’s ban on the administration of hormones and puberty blockers to minors for the purpose of gender transition. He left intact the provision banning gender-affirming surgeries for minors, which are not taking place in the state, and one requiring school staffers to notify parents if a student comes out as trans.
A federal judge in Georgia, which is in the 11th Circuit along with Alabama and Florida, recently cited the 11th Circuit panel’s ruling in lifting her injunction against Georgia’s ban on hormone therapy for trans minors. The panel’s decision “is binding precedent right now,” U.S. District Judge Sarah Geraghty wrote last week. The Georgia law does not deal with puberty blockers or surgeries.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has also lifted injunctions that federal district courts issued against gender-affirming care bans in Kentucky and Tennessee.
A total of 22 states have passed laws banning or restricting gender-affirming care for trans minors, but several of them remain blocked by courts while lawsuits are heard. One, in Arkansas, has been struck down by a court, and that ruling is on appeal.
Pictured: Protester and Alabama capitol
Rising star
Hope Hull’s Ella Langley is the Academy of Country Music’s New Female Artist of the Year, reports AL.com’s Mary Colurso.
The awards ceremony comes later, but Langley found out she was a winner while she was on stage at a festival in Knoxville. Miranda Lambert came on a big video screen to tell her the news. Langley managed to choke out a “God Bless America.”
She’s also up for ACM Female Artist of the Year and six more awards related to the song and video for “You Look Like You Love Me,” her duet with fellow Alabamian Riley Green of Jacksonville.
Incoming ‘Jeopardy!’ money
Some education-related projects in Mobile are getting a boost thanks to W. Kamau Bell’s big win in “Celebrity Jeopardy!” reports AL.com’s Lawrence Specker.
Bell is a comedian and the host of the CNN show “United Shades of America.”
On “Celebrity Jeopardy!” he won a million dollars for the charity of his choice. His was DonorsChoose, which fulfills online classroom wish lists made by teachers.
Among the locations Bell chose was Mobile, where he spent time during his childhood and where his dad still lives.
Projects funded by Bell’s winnings include special-needs playground equipment for Orchard Elementary and novels for small-group study at Dodge Elementary. According to DonorsChoose, the money going to the Mobile schools totals about $53,000 and will fund 72 projects across 22 schools.
RIP Alexis Herman
Alexis Herman, a member of President Clinton’s cabinet and a native of Mobile, passed away Friday, reports AL.com’s Patrick Darrington.
Herman was the first Black U.S. Secretary of Labor, a position she held from 1997 to 2001.
She was director of the Women’s Bureau at age 29, in 1977, later served as CEO of the 1992 Democrat National Convention, and then joined Clinton’s transition team when he won the White House. Along the way she did work promoting diversity hiring in the private sector.
Congressman Shomari Figures, a Mobile Democrat, called Herman a “true hometown hero.”
Said Figures: “She was a fighter for civil rights and women’s rights, a giant in DC political circles, especially amongst Black women, and an all-around dynamic woman.”
Alexis Herman was 77 years old.
Friendly talk
We have a new survey to report on.
We like surveys because we know they are almost always accurate. At least in the moment they’re conducted. Involving the exact respondents who responded. Who were prompted with questions that were worded exactly so.
With at least that much confidence, a study Censuswide conducted for the call-answering service Answering Service Care found that Americans consider the Southern accent to be the friendliest accent in the U.S., reports AL.com’s Margaret Kates.
And why not? You can’t say “Y’all come” in just any dialect.
Note that only 38% of people found the southern accent friendly, but that was higher than any other. The Hawaiian accent came in second at 34%. Texas was tied for third, but we all know where most of that accent migrated from.
Alabama News Quiz answers/results
Overall results:
- Five out of five: 27.8%
- Four out of five: 28.4%
- Three out of five: 25.4%
- Two out of five: 13.7%
- One out of five: 4.5%
- None out of five: 0.3%
This sports figure with ties to our state was recently selected by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
- Jalen Hurts (CORRECT) 60.9%
- Charles Barkley 31.0%
- Bruce Pearl 4.2%
- Rece Davis 3.9%
What are we most likely to see come out of the Alabama State Legislature this session?
- An expansion of the new school-choice law (CORRECT) 84.2%
- Teacher salary raises 10.4%
- A new charter school in Barbour County 4.8%
- A new graduation requirement to take three hours of College Football History 0.6%
Early next month, President Trump is expected to visit a college in this Alabama city.
- Tuscaloosa (CORRECT) 98.8%
- Auburn 0.6%
- Troy 0.6%
- Andalusia 0.0%
Alabama’s oldest hotel, the St. James Hotel, which originally opened in 1837 as the Brantley Hotel, is expected to reopen next month under new management in this city.
- Selma (CORRECT) 62.1%
- Mobile 23.0%
- Montgomery 14.3%
- Childersburg 0.6%
A new music festival is being planned for Birmingham in honor of …
- Sun Ra (CORRECT) 54.3%
- Hank Williams 27.5%
- Big Mama Thornton 16.4%
- The Beastie Boys 1.8%
More Alabama News
Born on This Date
In 1926, To Kill a Mockingbird author Nelle Harper Lee of Monroeville.
In 1952, keyboardist Chuck Leavell of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. He’s played with The Allman Brothers Band, The Rolling Stones and many others.
In 1954, former Congressman and state lawmaker Mo Brooks.
The podcast
The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed South Alabama hybrid tight end and fullback DJ Thomas-Jones to an undrafted free-agent contract, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Thomas-Jones joins the Steelers as their fullback for the offseason after they failed to add one in free agency. They pursued All-Pro Kyle Juszczyk after he was released, but he chose to sign back with the San Francisco 49ers.
Thomas-Jones ran a 4.63 40-yard dash at his pro day after measuring 6-foot-1, 250 pounds. With MyCole Pruitt still a free agent, Thomas-Jones will plop into his role and compete with Connor Heyward and Donald Parham for bottom-of-the-roster snaps.
In 2024, Thomsa-Jones had 22 receptions for 191 yards and three touchdowns, with his best game coming against Texas State, where he posted 59 yards on five receptions.
He began his career at the University of Mississippi before transferring to South Alabama. While in Mobile, he was the starting tight end and worked as a fullback starting in his sophomore season.
Thomas-Jones was a native of Mobile, and returned home to play for South Alabama. He had over 200 receiving yards in his sophomore and junior seasons before seeing a dip in his production during his senior campaign.
Former Alabama tight end Robbie Ouzts, left, works against former Alabama tight end CJ Dippre during line drills at Alabama’s NFL football pro day, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)
Vasha Hunt/Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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