AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading a 17-state lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) over a rule change that added “gender dysphoria” to the list of disabilities that may be protected from discrimination.
The new rule updates Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973–which prohibited discrimination based on a person’s disability in programs that receive federal funding–and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).
The department and its Office for Civil Rights announced the finalized rule back in May, after it went through the federal rulemaking process.
“This rule strengthens the protections afforded by Section 504, a landmark civil rights law, and furthers the Department’s commitment to ensuring equal access to this nation’s health care system and its social service programs for people with disabilities and their families,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “It is comprehensive in scope, advancing justice for people with disabilities and helping to ensure they are not discriminated against under any program or activity receiving funding from HHS just because they have a disability.”
There are many new updates to the two statutes, but the portion that this multi-state lawsuit is questioning is the addition of “gender dysphoria” to the definition of a disability under both the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA.
Gender dysphoria is defined by the Mayo Clinic as “the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics.”
The states claim that the two acts, when they were established, listed “gender identity disorders” as not protected disabilities. The suit also argues that the rule exceeds the health department’s authority.
“The Biden Administration is once again abusing executive action to sidestep federal law and force unscientific, unfounded gender ideology onto the public,” said Paxton in a news release. “Texas is suing because HHS has no authority to unilaterally rewrite statutory definitions and classify ‘gender dysphoria’ as a disability.”
The case will play out in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Gender dysphoria and gender transition care have been at the center of many legal cases across the U.S. A U.S. appeals court back in 2022 ruled that gender dysphoria may be protected under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act.
Earlier this week, Paxton announced he was suing over another portion of the rule change that would require states to provide LGBTQ+ affirming placement for youth in foster care. Paxton claimed Texas could lose up to $432 million each year in federal funding if it doesn’t comply with the new rule.