Transgender kids in nearly half of all U.S. states will not be able to access gender-affirming care after the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday upheld Tennessee’s ban on the care for minors. The court ruled 6-3 along conservative/liberal lines in the landmark decision.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts stressed that the case carries “the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates.”
“Our role is not ‘to judge the wisdom, fairness, or logic’ of the law before us, but only to ensure that it does not violate the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Roberts wrote. “Having concluded it does not, we leave questions regarding its policy to the people, their elected representatives, and the democratic process.”
In the dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “The court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims. In sadness, I dissent.”
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti celebrated the ruling, calling it a victory that “transcends politics.” Last week, Skrmetti spoke at a panel for the Southern Baptist Convention, where he said that God put him in the position of bringing this case before SCOTUS “for a reason.”
“The common sense of Tennessee voters prevailed over judicial activism,” Skrmetti said.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Justice under President Trump changed its position on the case to side with the state of Tennessee. Under the Biden administration, the DOJ had been aligned with families challenging the law.
LGBTQ advocates argue that gender-affirming care, like puberty blockers and hormone therapy, are essential to trans kids’ mental health.
“Families in Tennessee, many of them are discussing moving out of the state or moving out of the country,” said ACLU Tennessee senior staff attorney Lucas Cameron-Vaughn. “Many families in Tennessee are able to go out of state to obtain care, but unfortunately many do not have the resources to do that.”
The plaintiff in the case, a transgender girl from Tennessee referred to as L.W. in court documents, was 15 years old when her parents joined the lawsuit on her behalf. At the time, she told WPLN News that starting gender-affirming care changed her life.
“I was definitely very … depressed before I went on estrogen, or especially before puberty blockers, because I wasn’t myself, and it was just sort of difficult to care about everything around me,” she said. “I really just didn’t feel like I was able to enjoy life.”
L.W.’s parents said losing access to that care has been terrifying.
“This is not just some faceless thing that’s happening to somebody somewhere else. It’s happened to our family, and it’s happened to other families who don’t have the resources that we do. And, you know, it’s just frustrating,” L.W.’s dad told WPLN News. “People not only don’t understand trans folks, but they want to get rid of trans folks. And it pains me.”
ACLU attorney Chase Strangio said that the ruling was a “devastating loss for transgender people” but that there are paths forward for transgender people seeking recourse in court.
“The Court left undisturbed Supreme Court and lower court precedent that other examples of discrimination against transgender people are unlawful,” Strangio said. “People will continue fighting for the care that their kids need.”
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