Supreme court ruled that Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming treatment did not discriminate on basis of sex
The US supreme court on Wednesday ruled to uphold a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors – a decision, legal analysts say, that is sure to have a sweeping impact not only on transgender and non-binary individuals across the US, but on anybody who wants to argue that they have been discriminated against on the basis of their sex.
Forty per cent of trans people between the ages of 13 and 17 live in the 27 states that have so far enacted bans or policies that restrict youths’ access to gender-affirming care. Although advocates have launched more than a dozen lawsuits over the bans, most remain in effect. Wednesday’s decision in the case, United States v Skrmetti, may pave the way for the rest to take effect.
The decision left Meredithe McNamara, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine who specializes in adolescent medicine, “devastated and scared”.
“This is a step in the wrong direction for trans people of all ages,” she said. “If people were truly interested in the wellbeing of transgender youth, there would be a more sensible discussion being had. ‘How do we advance the quality of evidence? How do we advance services and support for these people?’ That, of course, was never the intention.”
