The Supreme Court will take up state bans on gender-affirming care for minors

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court on Monday joined the fight for transgender rights by agreeing to consider the Biden administration’s appeal to block state bans on gender-affirming care.

The judges’ actions come after Republican-led states introduced a series of restrictions on health care for transgender people, participation in school sports, apply of bathrooms and drag queen performances. Democratic-led administrations and states have expanded protections for transgender people, including: recent federal regulation which aims to protect transgender students.

Case before the Supreme Court concerns a Tennessee law that limits the apply of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors. A federal appeals court in Cincinnati allowed the Tennessee and Kentucky laws to go into effect after they were blocked by lower courts. (The Supreme Court did not hear a separate appeal by Kentucky.)

“Without the Court’s timely intervention, transgender youth and their families will remain in limbo, unsure of whether and where they can access the medical care they need,” attorneys for transgender teens in Tennessee told justices.

” READ MORE: Gender-affirming care for transgender people is protected under a recent Philadelphia ordinance

Actor Elliot Page, the Oscar-nominated star of “Juno,” “Inception” and “The Umbrella Academy,” was among 57 transgender people to join a legal filing in support of a Supreme Court review.

Arguments will be held in the fall.

Last month, South Carolina became condition 25 to pass legislation limiting or prohibiting gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even though such treatments have been available in the United States for over a decade and are supported by major medical associations.

Most state restrictions remain in place lawsuits. The judges have already done this allowed Idaho to generally enforce its restrictions after they are blocked by lower courts.

” READ MORE: Philadelphia hospitals lack formalized training for providers who identify as LGBTQ-affirming

At least 24 states have laws prohibiting transgender women and girls from participating in certain women’s and girls’ sports. At least 11 states have passed laws prohibiting transgender girls and women from using girls’ and women’s restrooms in public schools and, in some cases, other government facilities.

The nation’s highest court has rarely dealt with transgender issues. In 2020, justices ruled that the landmark civil rights law protects gays, lesbians and transgender people from employment discrimination.

In 2016, the court agreed to take up the case of a transgender student, supported by the Obama administration, who was banned from using the boys’ restroom at a Virginia high school. But the court dismissed the case after a directive recommending schools allow students to apply the bathroom of their chosen gender, not their biological gender, was rejected in the first months of the Trump administration. The directive was a key part of the appeals court’s ruling in favor of student Gavin Grimm.

In 2021, judges declined to get involved in Grimm’s case after the appeals court again ruled in his favor. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas then noted that they would have granted the school board’s appeal.