‘Illegal retaliation’: Doctor sues governor after fired for voicing sound medical opinion
A doctor in Wyoming is pursuing a First Amendment lawsuit against Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon after the state’s chief executive forced him off a health panel because of his private views about transgender body mutilations on children.
Ironically, state lawmakers adopted and the Republican governor himself signed into law the proposal, known as Chloe’s Law, that was in dispute.
That law restricts physicians’ abilities to perform gender reassignment surgeries on minors.
Dr. Eric Cubin supported the law, and wrote to lawmakers, privately, to express his opinion.
The problem was that the Wyoming Medical Society, of which Cubin was a member, opposed the plan.
Liberty Justice Center said it now has gone to court because of the situation in which Gordon forced Cubin to resign from the Wyoming Board of Medicine.
It explained, “Dr. Cubin is a member of the Wyoming Medical Society (WMS), a voluntary organization of Wyoming doctors that claims to represent the interests of physicians across the state. In early 2024, the organization expressed its opposition to a proposed bill known as Chloe’s Law, which would restrict Wyoming physicians’ ability to perform gender reassignment surgeries on, or prescribe hormone therapy for, minors. Because the WMS’s public position on Chloe’s Law did not reflect the perspective held by all of its members, Dr. Cubin contacted the WMS to request that the organization poll its members and present physicians on both sides of the issue. The organization repeatedly ignored his concern that the WMS was not accurately representing the views of Wyoming physicians.”
Eventually Cubin decided to express his own opinion, privately sending an email to state lawmakers to support the law, and to explain the society’s “public opposition” did not represent all doctors.
The law passed, and was signed by Gordon, but then only a few weeks later, Gordon removed Cubin from his post on the state Board of Medicine, “explicitly citing Dr. Cubin’s personal email to the House of Representatives in support of Chloe’s Law as the reason for removal.”
The legal team explained, “By firing Dr. Cubin for exercising his right to free speech, the Governor engaged in illegal retaliation and violated Dr. Cubin’s First Amendment rights.”
Center lawyer Buck Dougherty said, “Governor Gordon unlawfully retaliated against Dr. Cubin for exercising his First Amendment rights. People who serve in government positions do not lose their right to speak out on important issues. We look forward to holding the Governor accountable for his actions in court.”
Cubin explained, regarding the case now pending in federal court in Cheyenne, “I was removed from the Wyoming State Board of Medicine because I took a stand to protect the children in our state. I had been misrepresented by the Wyoming Medical Society and had no choice but to speak up for what I believe to be right.
“I urged our legislators to be circumspect about the information they were being provided and cautious about what they allow physicians to do to kids in our state—something that is now the law across Wyoming. I am proud to stand with the Liberty Justice Center and fight this violation of my First Amendment rights.”
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