U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla on December 18 issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Justice (DOJ) from subpoenaing the medical records of transgender patients who received gender-affirming care as minors at New York medical facilities.
The ruling came after a hospital revealed it had received a subpoena for records from the DOJ, prompting several families and patients to file a lawsuit. Judge Failla found that the subpoenas, carried out under President Donald Trump's administration, could violate patients' privacy rights.
“Whether inadvertent or intentional, the administration’s policies toward transgender people represent a coordinated effort to gather deeply personal information about an entire group of people without their knowledge or consent,” the judge wrote in the ruling.
Since taking office for his second term, Trump has intensified measures restricting transgender rights. On his first day back at the White House, he signed an executive order requiring the federal government to recognize only two sexes, male and female. Then, on January 28, 2025, he signed a directive limiting gender-affirming care for minors and ordering the DOJ to “prioritize investigation and take appropriate action to end” such medical practices.
In February 2025, the Pentagon issued a memo banning transgender individuals from serving in the military, arguing that their gender “is not compatible with the high mental and physical standards required.”
Critics have slammed the Trump administration's efforts as aimed at demeaning and marginalizing the transgender community. Judge Failla agreed, stating that the administration had sought to “identify, root out, and ultimately eradicate an entire group of transgender people.”
The temporary restraining order is effective for 14 days. The judge has scheduled the next hearing for July 8 to decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction to extend the block on the DOJ's access to medical records.
The subpoenas for New York medical records were issued by a grand jury in the Northern District of Texas, a jurisdiction seen as friendly to conservative lawsuits. However, judges across the United States have blocked nearly 20 subpoenas issued by Texas courts against clinics and doctors providing transgender care.
“Today's court ruling is a victory for the fundamental privacy rights of our clients and all families like them across New York City,” said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, an attorney for the plaintiffs at the LGBT rights group Lambda Legal.
