A federal judge on Friday let stand an FTC lawsuit alleging a transgender health nonprofit made misleading claims about gender-affirming care for minors, rejecting the organization’s request for an immediate block.
In his order, Chief Judge James E. Boasberg determined that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) failed to meet the high bar for emergency relief.
“WPATH is subject only to an entity’s standard obligation to litigate once a government agency brings a claim against it—that is, no harm at all,” he stated.
WPATH also attempted to connect the enforcement action to an earlier civil investigative demand that the FTC had issued and later withdrawn. Boasberg clarified that his prior order covered only that demand and failed to insulate the group from this lawsuit or additional requests for information. The current case stands on its own, he said.
The judge raised concerns about the broader tactic at play.
“Linking a suit by the FTC to pre-enforcement-investigation challenges risks allowing plaintiffs ‘to choose the forum and pace of the litigation simply by bringing pre[-]enforcement actions,’” he wrote, drawing on precedent.
Observers highlighted that the ruling shows deference to the proceedings already underway before Chief Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson celebrated the result in a statement on X.
“WPATH was so desperate to avoid facing justice in Texas they tried to melt down our entire court system. But Judge Boasberg’s decision has cleared the way. WPATH will answer for its conduct in the state of its incorporation,” he wrote.
This ruling gives the FTC and its state partners a procedural inroad. Discovery in the Texas case can now focus on how WPATH developed and promoted its standards of care, including the statements behind the agency’s allegations.
The enforcement effort aligns with recent federal scrutiny around gender-related medical practices.
In 2025, the FTC embarked upon a public investigation into whether consumers, in particular minors, had been harmed by transgender interventions due to undisclosed risks or unproven claims.
The inquiry included testimony from medical ethicists, whistleblowers, detransitioners, and parents who described situations where some practitioners allegedly deceived people.
A May 2025 report from the Department of Health and Human Services faulted medical organizations for adopting WPATH-aligned stances in ways that it alleged suggested professional consensus while silencing dissenting evidence.
WPATH has long promoted transgender surgeries and hormonal treatments to children and expressed skepticism toward psychotherapeutic solutions to gender dysphoria.
In January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that restricted federal funding for certain gender-related interventions on minors. Clinics in multiple states then looked to limit or cease offering those treatments to patients under 19.