Some of the plaintiffs in Brandt v Rutledge, the case challenging Arkansas's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, gather outside the courthouse after the second day of the trial.

Tess Vrbin of the Arkansas Advocate checks in with the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit challenging Arkansas’s first in the nation gender-affirming care ban. It’s a reminder of the absolute horror show Arkansas Republicans are putting trans kids and their families through.

Four transgender youths — Parker Sexton, 18; Sabrina Jennen, 17; Dylan Brandt, 17; and Brooke Dennis, soon to be 11 — and their families sued the state of Arkansas in federal court to block the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act from going into effect. The law, passed in 2021 despite former Gov. Asa Hutchinson‘s veto, bans gender-affirming care for minors in Arkansas. But U.S. District Judge James Moody blocked enforcement of the law in 2021, and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld the injunction. Now, everyone is waiting for Moody to rule and for the inevitable appeals to follow.

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There’s lots of poignancy in the Advocate piece:

Aaron and his wife, Lacey Jennen, said their family deserves better than how the state government has treated them.

“Sabrina deserves to be here and be happy and be safe, but for whatever reason, they don’t think so,” Aaron said. “We love it here. We love Arkansas; we just want Arkansas to love us back.”

Donnie [Sexton] said no one close to Parker “thought that he would see adulthood” before he came out as transgender.

“I was a ticking time bomb,” Parker said.

“He was worse than a ticking time bomb,” Donnie added. “He was a grenade that had been pulled.”

Donnie, Aaron, Amanda and Joanna all testified in October that their children’s transitions have vastly improved their mental health and overall well-being. Aaron said Sabrina used to hate having her picture taken but now enjoys drawing self-portraits.

“I used to really not like myself or who I was, but now I’m someone that I’m very proud to be, and it’s very liberating to be able to draw myself,” Sabrina said in March.

A new law, which similarly aims to prevent Arkansas youth from getting gender-affirming care by threatening medical care providers with significant malpractice liabilities, will take effect this summer. There’ll be another lawsuit and other families will be forced to take a stand to protect their families.

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