Ohio judge to decide on transgender boy’s therapy

CINCINNATI – An Ohio judge expects to rule next month in a legal battle over what kind of therapy a transgender boy should receive.

The 17-year-old youth’s grandparents want full custody and support his pursuit of hormonal therapy. His parents deny that he is transgender and want Christian-based therapy to “get to the underlying causes” of why he thinks he is.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports visiting Judge Sylvia Herndon will make her decision before Feb. 16.

She heard closing arguments Friday in Hamilton County Juvenile Court.

A prosecutor representing a social services agency says the grandparents accept him for who he is. The attorney for his parents says the teen is too unstable to decide.

Hamilton County Job and Family Services intervened last year after the teen emailed a crisis hotline.