A closely watched federal battle over North Carolina’s restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors has quietly come to an end in Raleigh, with all parties signing off on a deal to shut the case down for good. On Friday, the parties in Voe v. Mansfield jointly agreed to dismiss the 2023 lawsuit challenging House Bill 808, North Carolina’s ban on gender-transition surgery and certain hormone treatments for minors. The filing ends one of the state’s highest-profile legal fights over transgender youth care and officially closes the federal case “with prejudice.”
The stipulation describes the case as voluntarily dismissed “with prejudice,” a move that blocks the plaintiffs from bringing the same federal lawsuit again, according to WBT. The same filing also asks that each side cover its own costs, with no attorney fees changing hands between the parties, per that report.
The case had effectively been frozen since July 2025 while lawyers on both sides asked the district court to hold off until higher courts weighed in on related appeals, according to the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. That pause followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 18, 2025 decision in United States v. Skrmetti, which reshaped how courts review state limits on transgender care and sent appellate courts back to the drawing board on similar disputes, per the U.S. Supreme Court.
HB 808 At a Glance
House Bill 808, enacted in August 2023 over then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto, prohibits medical professionals from performing surgical gender-transition procedures on anyone under 18 and from prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to minors, according to the bill text on the North Carolina General Assembly website. The measure also carries potential penalties, including possible revocation of medical licenses and limits on state funding. It took effect after lawmakers overrode Cooper’s veto in August 2023.
What The Dismissal Means
Because the dismissal is “with prejudice,” the plaintiffs cannot refile this same federal challenge to HB 808, leaving the law in place for now, according to WBT. Court records also show the U.S. Department of Justice pulled back a previous statement of interest in February 2025, removing federal support from the suit, per the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse.
The lawsuit was filed by transgender minors, their parents, and medical providers, and was litigated by Lambda Legal and partner organizations, according to Lambda Legal. With this route now closed, advocates say the spotlight will likely shift back to ongoing appeals and state-level policy fights that could shape access to and coverage for transgender youth care across the Fourth Circuit.
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