On October 1, the Liberty Justice Center filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against Governor Mark Gordon on behalf of Dr. Eric Cubin, a radiologist whom the Governor forced to resign from the state’s medical board for privately writing a letter in support of Senate File 99, known as “Chloe’s Law.”
In February, Dr. Cubin wrote a letter to the Wyoming House of Representatives, speaking as a private citizen in support of the proposed bill, which would prohibit Wyoming physicians from performing gender reassignment surgeries on, or prescribing hormone therapy to, minors. The bill passed the House and Senate with strong support, and Gordon signed it into law on March 22.
However, one month after signing the bill into law, Gordon forced Dr. Cubin to resign from his position on the Wyoming Board of Medicine—and explicitly cited Dr. Cubin’s letter to the House of Representatives as the reason for the removal.
The Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on Dr. Cubin’s behalf, arguing that the Governor engaged in illegal retaliation and violated Dr. Cubin’s First Amendment rights by forcing him to resign for exercising his rights to free speech and to petition the government.
In today’s legal filing, the Liberty Justice Center urges the court to grant a preliminary injunction ordering Governor Gordon to restore Dr. Cubin to his position on the Wyoming Board of Medicine.
“Governor Gordon violated Dr. Cubin’s First Amendment rights by forcing him to resign from the board as punishment for exercising his right to free speech,” said Buck Dougherty, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “We urge the court to uphold Dr. Cubin’s constitutional rights and restore him to his position.”
Since the lawsuit’s filing, grassroots support for Dr. Cubin and his fight for the First Amendment has swept across Wyoming, with over 5,300 residents across the state petitioning Governor Gordon to reinstate Dr. Cubin. The petitions were delivered to the Governor’s office today by local nonprofit organization Honor Wyoming.
“What Governor Gordon did to Dr. Cubin has become a major grassroots issue in Wyoming. People are tired of political elites of all stripes abusing their authority. The level of support we’ve seen for Dr. Cubin has been unparalleled,” said David Scheurn, Director of Grassroots and Coalition Development at Honor Wyoming. “We are honored to be hand-delivering over 5,300 petitions by Wyoming residents asking Governor Gordon to reinstate Dr. Cubin. I think this reaction is a real testament to the character of this state and to its citizens’ refusal to be bullied by elected leaders.”
Cubin v. Gordon was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming, Cheyenne Division, on August 29, 2024. Cheyenne-based attorney D. Stephen Melchior served as local counsel to file the lawsuit.
The Liberty Justice Center’s legal filings in Cubin v. Gordon are available here.