A Missouri court upheld a ban on gender affirming care for minors, citing ethical concerns.

Judge R. Craig Carter filed his ruling Monday in the case Noe v. Parson, deciding that the state’s ban on providing gender affirming care for minors did not run afoul of the constitution. The case was brought by several trans teens and their families, and filed by Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Missouri and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP.

The law bans all care, including puberty blockers, hormones and surgery for people under 18. Minors who obtained this sort of care prior to August 28, 2023 are protected, and the law is set to expire on the same day in 2027.

The Missouri court ruled that it was “required to deny the plaintiff’s prayers for relief.”

READ MORE: Lone Dissenter Calls Texas Supreme Court Transgender Ruling ‘Cruel, Unconstitutional’

“This Court finds an almost total lack of consensus as to the medical ethics of adolescent gender dysphoria treatment. The evidence at trial showed severe disagreement as to whether adolescent gender dysphoria drug and surgical treatment was ethical at all, and if so, what amount of treatment was ethically allowable. States do have an abiding interest in protecting the integrity and ethics of the medical profession,” Carter wrote.

Carter ruled that since gender dysphoria is a mental disorder, and mental disorders are generally treated “by actually treating the mental aspect, like prescribing Zoloft to treat depression,” care that affects the body is not in line with “western medicine.”

“However, the gender dysphoria treatment prohibited by Missouri uses drugs and surgeries to either inhibit normal healthy human growth or surgically remove and replace healthy human organs. Such an approach to treatment is well outside normal medicine, and medical ethicists are unable to agree on the propriety thereof,” he wrote.

Carter also questioned “why the number of individuals with gender dysphoria has skyrocketed over the last decade,” parroting claims from anti-transgender advocates that it’s a “fad.” However, a 2022 study published by the medical journal Pediatrics debunked the claims of “social contagion” increasing the number of trans youth. The theory was initially posed by Dr. Lisa Littman in 2018, who wrote a paper describing “rapid onset gender dysphoria.” Littman’s paper was published by the journal PLOS One, who later issued a correction, pointing out that she did not actually speak to trans teens, but their parents.

Gender affirming care for minors typically involves prescribing puberty blockers, which delay the onset of puberty. Prior to puberty, care is generally limited to social changes—like wearing clothes or pronouns that align with the gender the child identifies as, according to Advocates for Trans Equality. Hormone replacement therapy in minors is exceedingly rare, and surgery is even more so.

Though Carter wrote in his ruling that “the potential harms from these interventions are serious,” puberty blockers are fully reversible. Not only that, but a study published in The Lancet found that 98% of those on puberty blockers went on hormone replacement therapy upon turning 18. But should a teen realize they aren’t trans, all they need to do is stop taking the blockers, and their body will go through puberty as normal. Puberty blockers have been used for years and are safe,  according to Cedars-Sinai, and are most commonly used to stop precocious puberty, a condition affecting 1 in 5,000 children—including some as young as 6.

Lambda Legal has vowed to appeal the Missouri court’s ruling.

“We are extremely disappointed in this decision, but this is not the end of the fight and we will appeal. However, the court’s findings signal a troubling acceptance of discrimination, ignore an extensive trial record and the voices of transgender Missourians and those who care for them, and deny transgender adolescents and Medicaid beneficiaries from their right to access to evidence-based, effective, and often life-saving medical care,” Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Missouri said in a joint statement.

Image by Ted Eytan via Wikimedia Commons

While support for same-sex marriage remains high overall, it’s been dropping over the last three years following GOP attacks on the LGBTQ community.

According to a new Gallup poll, overall support for same-sex marriage is at 69% among Americans. While that’s strong, it’s down two percentage points from 2022, when support hit a record high of 71%.

Gallup’s data on Americans’ approval for same-sex marriage over time.

The dip can be seen across the political spectrum. When asked if marriage equality should be legal, Republicans’ support fell to 46% from a high of 55% in 2021 and 2022. But support even fell among Democrats and independent voters asked the same question.

READ MORE: WATCH: Moms for Liberty Chapter Chair Flips Out at Drag Queens in Viral Clip

While both demographics still overwhelmingly support marriage equality, it’s started to fall over that same period. In 2022, a record high percentage of Democrats, 87%, thought same-sex marriage should be legal. That fell 4% to 83% this year.

As for independents, in 2023, a record 77% supported marriage equality. But this year, it’s dipped 3% to 74%.

Gallup’s data on Americans’ approval for same-sex marriage over time broken out by party affiliation.

The percentage of Americans who think homosexuality is morally acceptable has also fallen since 2022’s record high. In that year, 71% thought it was morally OK to be gay, but that fell to 64% last year, and held steady at that lower number this year.

Unlike marriage equality, when the question was broken out by political affiliation, the percentage of Democrats rose since last year. In 2024, 81% of Democrats felt homosexuality was morally acceptable, an increase from 2023’s 79% — but still down from 2022’s high of 85%. Independents fell 6% to 68% when compared to last year, while Republicans only fell a single point to 40% over the same period.

The poll was conducted via phone last month. It has a sample size of 1,024 adults, and has 4% margin of error.

While Republican politicians generally have not been pro-LGBTQ, attacks against the community have increased in the last few years. Republicans have banned Pride month displays at U.S. embassies and on public infrastructure. Former President Donald Trump says if he’s re-elected, he’d end protections for queer students.

Right-wing figures like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito have framed the fight for equal rights as being anti-religious. Many states have attempted to pass drag bans. And the conservative majority of the Supreme Court has signaled it may repeal the Obergefell decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

The chair of the Moms for Liberty California chapter went viral in a video clip harassing drag queens in the lobby of a Hawaiian hotel on Sunday.

The clip was first posted by Hawaii-area drag queen Marina del Rey to her Facebook profile. In the two-minute long clip, the woman, identified as Beth Bourne, begins recording video with her cell phone and starts berating drag queens that were in the lobby of the Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach.

The clip opens with her asking for someone to call the police, before launching into her tirade.

READ MORE: Drag Queen Story Hour Interrupted by Neo-Nazis Seen in Terrifying Video

“I’m sorry, but this is — I paid to be a customer at a hotel where I thought you believed that women were real. That because you put on makeup, because you’re wearing high heels, because you have a Barbie outfit on, that you don’t think this is degrading? This is misogyny,” Bourne says.

She says that if the hotel refunds her money, she will leave, but she’s “not going to have my children come down from the 30th floor and see what’s happening here.” A hotel representative tries to calm her down, but then she starts accosting one of the drag queens.

“Are you in the hotel? Are you dressed up? Are you a man? Are you a man pretending to be a woman?” she asks the queen, who says they’re not “pretending to be anything.”

“What do you think about my son, who might think that he can put on makeup and put on fancy clothing and high heels and have his penis cut off and take estrogen so he can grow fake boobs like those?” she continues.

She keeps yelling at the hotel representative, announcing she paid $3,000 to stay in the hotel and that the sight of the drag queens is “degrading.” The queens start to chuckle at the awkward situation, which sets her off again. She starts asking for the drag queens to identify themselves and tell her “why you think it’s okay to put on a clown costume and do this to young children.” It should be mentioned, no children can be seen in the clip.

She again asks to speak to the police — and she apparently got her wish. Del Rey says that Bourne was handcuffed and escorted out of the hotel for causing a disturbance. Bourne was not actually arrested or charged, del Rey said, but the hotel did trespass her from the property.

In another post, del Ray said that the queens were there to record a video for a pageant. The premise of the video was that the drag queens were posing as hotel staff while in full drag.

“This woman saw us filming and came to a slow burn and then she popped off. Her rant went on and on – possibly with the attempt to get a riled angered response. She didn’t get one. In this video – you see my perspective. In her video – u will see three drag queens surrounded by staff and guests – just sitting down,” del Rey wrote.

She also had kind words for the real hotel staff and the witnesses who “extended compassion of which I’m very very grateful.”

Bourne herself reposted the queens’ video to X. She says that “several other Alohilani hotel guests told me they also found it offensive so I spoke up to the manager yesterday.” She also posted her own video, showing the queens sitting in the lobby.

Notes from Waikiki, HI:

I am not okay with children being exposed to drag queens. Several other Alohilani hotel guests told me they also found it offensive so I spoke up to the manager yesterday.

I was briefly detained by @honolulupolice, refunded my hotel charges, and have no… pic.twitter.com/LDoq7MEOQr

— Beth Bourne (@bourne_beth2345) June 24, 2024

Her video shows the beginning of the conversation, which starts calmly, with her attempting to debate the queens. But she gets more and more angry — one of the queens even points out that Bourne is “shivering.” Bourne also films the concierge desk so “everyone” will know what the hotel is.

“I paid $3,000 so I can believe in biological reality! I am a real woman! You are fake!” Bourne says.

“I know!” the queen fires back.

The last minute of Bourne’s video overlaps with Marina del Rey’s video, providing the context. In the clip, we can clearly see the drag queens acting calmly.

Bourne is the chair of the California chapter of Moms for Liberty, which has been designated a far-right extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Her bio on X describes herself as a “Mom questioning gender ideology in CA schools,” and clarifies that her views are her own, “not my employer, UC Davis where 1/22 kids is trans.”

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told Hawaii News Now that he was “proud” of the drag queens.

“The video was upsetting, no question. I am proud of the performers from Hawai’i’s LGBTQIA community who maintained their dignity and integrity in the face of such a hostile attack. This type of behavior is unacceptable. It is not aloha, and we will not tolerate it from anyone,” Green said.

Bourne’s employer, UC Davis, released a statement later on Tuesday, condemning Bourne’s actions.

“We are aware of a widely circulated video in which a university employee makes a number of offensive statements. We condemn these statements as deeply hurtful. While the employee’s comments are protected by the First Amendment, they do not reflect the values of respect and belonging that form the foundation of our campus community,” the statement read.

“To the LGBTQ community, UC Davis is a place where you should feel seen and supported. June is when the nation celebrates Pride Month, and at UC Davis we’re committed to making sure this community has every opportunity to thrive and flourish on our campus.”

Update (6/25/2024, 7:30 p.m. ET): This story has been updated to include UC Davis’ statement.

Featured image taken from a screenshot of Marina Del Rey’s video.