A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prevent the DOJ from pursuing the private medical records of transgender youth receiving gender-affirming healthcare in New York City. The judge also granted the request for provisional certification of a class so that the order benefits not just the case’s plaintiffs, but other trans youth as well.

“We’re thankful the court has granted our emergency request to protect the privacy interests of transgender New Yorkers and their families,” said ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project’s Co-Director Chase Strangio. “Patients and families trust their doctors with their most intimate, private information and should trust in turn that this information will be protected from impermissible and harassing demands for disclosure from the federal government or anyone else.”

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla comes in response to the DOJ’s year long campaign to obtain the medical records and personal information of trans minors who have received gender-affirming care. Last year, the DOJ sent out at least 20 administrative subpoenas to hospitals across the country requesting extensive documentation on these young patients.