Washington As it considers whether states can limit gender transition care for kids, the conservative-majority Supreme Court delves into the culture war debate surrounding transgender rights on Wednesday.
Throughout the just-concluded election, President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters consistently promoted an anti-transgender rights message. When he enters office in January, he has promised to reimpose limits on transgender individuals serving in the military and limit access to gender-affirming healthcare, among other things.
Democrats have pushed for more protections for transgender individuals, including the Biden administration in the current court case.
The Biden administration, transgender youth, and their families have challenged a newly passed Tennessee legislation before the court, which has a conservative 6-3 majority that includes three Trump appointees.
The argument made orally The most important day of the court’s most recent term, which began in October and concludes in June, is Wednesday morning.
The state law prohibits hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and gender transition surgery for children. A lower court judge ruled that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to challenge the surgery prohibition, therefore it is no longer a factor in the Supreme Court case.
Given that over 20 other states have enacted legislation akin to Tennessee’s, the court’s decision will undoubtedly have a significant effect.
In an interview with reporters, Brian Williams, a Nashville-based father of a 16-year-old transgender girl and one of the plaintiffs in the case, stated, “Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming medical care is an active threat to the future my daughter deserves.”
According to his account, L.W., whose daughter’s name appears in court documents, “shared openly and honesty the pain she was in not being able to live as the girl she truly is.”
At the age of 13, L.W. began receiving hormone therapy, and a year later, puberty blockers.
“Today she is happy and healthy, a 16-year-old planning for her future,” Williams stated. However, he continued, the family would now have to travel out of state to receive the required therapy because of the ban.
The challengers contend that the Tennessee legislation violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees equal treatment under the law, by engaging in sex discrimination. They claim that while non-transgender individuals can receive hormone therapy and puberty blockers for other reasons, the law discriminates against transgender patients.
The Biden administration’s Solicitor General, Elizabeth Prelogar, stated in court documents that laws that target transgender individuals should be subject to a stringent threshold known as “heightened scrutiny.” Legal challenges against restrictions that harm transgender individuals would have an easier time succeeding if the court took that stance.
Additionally, Prelogar often cited the court’s unexpected 6-3 decision in 2020, which was authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch. His conclusion, which infuriated conservatives, was that transgender and gay persons were protected by federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace.
Jonathan Skrmetti, the state attorney general for Tennessee, highlighted in court documents the swift shift in treatment strategies for minors with gender dysphoria—the clinical term for the distress people can feel when their gender identities conflict with the genders assigned to them at birth—while defending the Tennessee law.
Skrmetti resisted attempts by the Biden administration to step in and stop states from taking action on the matter.
“While the government is free to favor its transition-first, ask-questions-later approach, the Constitution does not bind Tennessee to that same choice,” wrote Skrmetti.
Moreover, the state contends that the statute is simply a type of universally applicable medical regulation and does not amount to sex discrimination.
Gender dysphoria can be effectively treated with gender-affirming therapies, according to major medical organizations.
However, one conservative who has questioned such conclusions is Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, whose state has a restriction identical to Tennessee’s. In a brief he described a “medical, legal and political scandal” in which campaigners influenced medical professionals to support their legal claims.
Supporters of state limits also cite the ways in which Sweden and the United Kingdom, two nations who were early adopters of transition treatments for juveniles, have since changed their strategies and raised their standards.
The Supreme Court in April permitted Idaho to largely execute a similar statute, which may reveal the justices’ slant. The three liberal justices on the court dissented.
After the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected challenges to the Tennessee statute and a similar measure in Kentucky last year, the case that is being debated Wednesday made its way to the Supreme Court.
Before the court makes a decision, the new Trump administration may reverse the federal government’s stance in the Tennessee case and support the state’s legislation. However, the outcome of the case may not be affected in any way by such a move. By the end of June, a decision should be made.
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