LGBTQ+ Rights groups and their allies are preparing for a landmark case in the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, the high court’s first case on gender-affirming care.
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The case is United States vs. Scumetti, Previously LW vs. Scumetti, and a Tennessee law that prohibits gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Senate Bill 1, signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee in March 2023, bans gender transition surgeries, puberty blockers, and hormone treatments for people under the age of 18. .
The following month, three families with transgender children and a doctor filed a lawsuit challenging the law in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. LW is the trans daughter of Samantha Williams and Brian Williams, and Ms. Scumetti is Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scumetti, who is named as a defendant along with other state officials. The incident went like this USA vs. Scumetti as President Joe Biden’s administration joined the family and doctors in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process, as well as Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in health care. The plaintiffs are represented by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union and its Tennessee chapter, and the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld.
U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson issued a preliminary injunction in June 2023, blocking enforcement of the law. However, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit lifted it in September 2023. The plaintiffs are therefore asking the court to reconsider the Sixth Circuit’s decision. Chase Strangio of the ACLU will argue the lawsuit on behalf of Tennessee families and doctors. He will be the first transgender party to argue in a Supreme Court case. U.S. Attorney General Elizabeth Preloger will argue on behalf of the Biden administration.
LGBTQ+ and other civil rights groups will be watching this case closely. “At its core, this case is about human dignity,” said Chairman Kelly Robinson. The Human Rights Campaign stated: HRC explainer on the case. “Transgender young people are not political pawns. They are children who deserve compassion, medical care, and the same opportunities to grow up like any other young person, and whose parents deserve the same support as all other parents. politicians should never be able to interfere with the best decisions made by families and doctors, but discriminatory bans allow them to do just that. ”
Twenty-six states have adopted laws or policies prohibiting most or all gender-affirming care for minors who are transitioning, but who have conditions such as precocious puberty or abnormal sexual development. It allows such procedures for cisgender minors.
The ban on care for trans minors is “based on serious misconceptions about transgender people,” Thecla Taylor and Shayna Medley wrote in an online article. Advocate for transgender equality.
“Trans health care, or gender-affirming care, has been studied for decades,” they explained. “Medications needed by many transgender people, such as hormone therapy and puberty-pausing drugs, have been safely prescribed since the 1980s.”
However, those who support such bans often argue that this care is experimental or unproven, and act as if young people are receiving it without their parents’ knowledge or consent. None of that is true. During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump made wild and false claims that children were transitioning their gender in school. Additionally, being transgender is not a “stage” that you can outgrow, as some opponents of gender-affirming care claim.
“Every child has the right to health care that supports their health,” Robinson said. “Nearly every major medical organization agrees: Gender-affirming care is not a political statement. Healthcare can prevent depression, reduce suicide risk, and help children thrive. This is about health care, plain and simple.”
Recent studies have found that taking puberty blockers can dramatically reduce suicide risk for transgender youth (by more than 70 percent in some cases), HRC noted. a Stanford University School of Medicine Studies have shown that people who receive gender-affirming hormone therapy as teenagers have higher rates of positive mental health outcomes than those who receive it as an adult. A study by several medical experts found that New England Medical Journal,Transgender youth who received this treatment found lower levels of gender dysphoria, depression, and anxiety, and improved life satisfaction and positive emotions.
“Sadly, while the anti-trans position is completely misleading, if not outright false, the harm these bans do is very real,” Taylor and Medley reported. According to research by The Trevor Project, 90 percent of LGBTQ+ youth have been negatively impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ political rhetoric, and 45 percent of transgender and non-binary youth have personally or Respondents said their families had considered moving to another state.
Transgender equality advocacy groups friend of the court brief The Tennessee case was brought to the Supreme Court. Such briefs are submitted by people or organizations not directly involved in the case but who wish to provide input. The petition is signed by more than 60 people who have benefited from gender-affirming care, including famous actors Elliot Page and Nicole Maines, and Stonewall veteran Miss Major.
“The people who contributed to this report, like the diverse transgender community they represent, find joy and meaning in their lives regardless of their age, race, faith or origin.” Senior Counsel Sidney Duncan said in a statement. Transgender Equality Advocates “Each of their stories believes that gender-affirming healthcare was the key that unlocked their ability to be happy, successful, and engaged with the world around them.” They are living proof that gender-affirming medicine is important.” That’s a good thing, and that’s the right thing to do. Of course, these medical decisions should be made by transgender youth, their families, and their doctors, not politicians. We ask the Supreme Court to repeal this cruel and discriminatory law. ”
HRC has set out the implications of the potential ruling. They depend on the level of scrutiny the court applies to the case. Possibilities include finding that Tennessee’s law is unconstitutional, and therefore that similar state laws are also unconstitutional. Sending the case back to the Sixth Circuit, depending on the level of scrutiny applied, could send a strong message that the Tennessee law and laws like it are rarely permissible, and may result in their continued existence. or even strengthened. Alternatively, affirming the Sixth Circuit’s decision would mean that all such laws would survive.
“The ban on transgender health care is part of a larger attack on gender discrimination protections, undermining reproductive rights and bodily autonomy by restricting access to health care, all of which are linked to sexual and part of the far-right’s attempt to redefine gender,” Haley said. Norris, a policy analyst on the Center for American Progress’s LGBTQI+ policy team, is the center’s Website. “The impact of this decision is likely not to be made public until the summer of 2025, and should be of concern to anyone concerned about bodily autonomy.”
Families and advocates gathered outside the courthouse Wednesday for a rally titled “Freedom to Be: A Celebration of Transgender Youth and Families.”
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
