Supreme Court Wades Into Transgender Culture Wars
Supreme Court will hear its first case on issues stemming from the national culture war over transgender rights.The court has agreed to hear United States v.
Jonathan Skrmetti, taking up the appeal brought by the Biden administration in response to a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
The law restricts access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery for transgender people under 18.Several legal groups sued Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skremtti in April 2023 on behalf of a Nashville couple and their 15-year-old transgender daughter, as well as two unnamed plaintiffs and a Memphis-based medical doctor, seeking to block the state's ban on gender-affirming care.Such treatments have been available in the U.S.
for decades and are endorsed by major medical associations, which say these are effective ways of treating gender dysphoria—the clinical term given to people who experience distress because their gender identity is conflicted with their biological sex.According to the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the advocates that filed suit, there are over 3,000 transgender adolescents living in Tennessee.Oral arguments in the case are expected in the court's 2024-2025 term, which will begin in October.
