trans youth – Memphis Flyer

Advocacy groups and organizations have shared their thoughts on the Supreme Court of The United States’ (SCOTUS) decision to hear a challenge on Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors in the state.

While the case will not be heard until next fall, organizations such as the ACLU and OUTMemphis are hoping that SCOTUS rules in favor of trans youth.

“This case started with trans youth in the Mid-South and Tennessee and the folks who care for them, after our state passed laws denying life-saving health care,” Molly Quinn, executive director of OUTMemphis said. “ A year later, with more than 20 states outlawing this care and over 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills, this fight is a centerpiece of the pathway to queer and trans justice in our country, which we will never give up on. If the court sides with Tennessee’s unlawful ban, the state can and will escalate its discrimination against trans people and the broader LGBTQ+ community.”

In September of 2023 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed for the law restricting transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming medical care to remain in effect.

The ruling came months after the court initially blocked the law from taking effect in July of the same year.

The state law was signed by Governor Bill Lee in March of 2023, and prohibits healthcare professionals from administering gender-affirming care to minors.This legislation makes gender-affirming hormone therapy and puberty blockers inaccessible and trans people in Tennessee will not have access to this care until they reach the age of 18. Similar restrictions have been made in states like Arkansas and Alabama.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) they along with the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP asked the Supreme Court to review the September ruling.

“The United States intervened in the plaintffs’ case at the district court and also asked the court to review the Sixth Circuit decision,” the ACLU said in a statement.

Quinn added that trans youth want “the freedom to live joyful and authentic lives,” and said their livelihood could be at stake if the court sides with the state.

“A better and freer world takes every kind of effort, and we hope the court will limit state overreach as Tennessee and states like it attempt to stand in the way of our futures,” Quinn said.

Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, a plaintiff’s attorney on the case and OUTMemphis Board of Directors member, said this case is about “curbing government interference in our lives.” In a statement released by ACLU-TN, Cameron-Vaughn shared Quinn’s sentiments regarding Tennessean’s rights to live their truth.

“Tennesseans deserve the freedom to live their lives as their authentic selves without government interference, yet every day this law remains in place, it inflicts further pain and injustice on trans youth and their families,” Cameron-Vaughn said. “The Court has the power to protect trans youth’s right to access the healthcare they need by striking down this discriminatory law.”

Other organizations are hoping that SCOTUS can provide more guidance and relief nationwide and that this will set the proper precedent for the country moving forward.

During a press conference to reflect on the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi CEO Ashley Coffield said it’s remarkable that the law will be heard.

“I agree with the Biden Administration that this is a really confusing time for families of minors with gender dysphoria and that it is critical that we have legal guidance to follow so that this is not like abortion, where it is state-by-state and is a total mess, and people are confused and scared and don’t know what’s going on,” Coffield said.

A bill that bans gender affirming healthcare for minors in Tennessee was signed into law on Thursday, March 2nd by Governor Bill Lee. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2023 but groups on all sides of the issue are speaking out.

Senate Bill 1 prohibits “licensed healthcare professionals, establishments, and facilities from performing or offering to perform on a person under 18 years of age, or administering or offering to administer to a minor, a medical procedure if the performance or administration of the procedure is for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the immutable characteristics of the reproductive system that define the minor as male or female, as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth.”

The bill also prohibits healthcare providers from “treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.”

This legislation also allows civil litigation against a healthcare provider who performs such procedures. These lawsuits could be brought within 30 years from the date the minor reaches 18 years of age, or within 10 years from the date of the minor’s death if the minor dies. It also allows relatives of a minor to bring a wrongful death action against a healthcare provider in such cases under certain conditions.

Up until recently, Tennessee law allowed for minors to access gender-affirming care.

Groups like Heritage Action For America, a conservative organization, have praised Lee’s passage of the legislation. In a statement, vice president of field operations for the organization, Janae Stracke, said that “the last things girls and boys struggling with gender confusion need are dangerous cross-sex hormones and experimental, life-altering operations.”

Stracke also said that minors “need compassionate care that addresses the underlying mental health problems associated with gender confusion and dysphoria,” and that “SB 1 will protect Tennessee children from lifelong physical and psychological pain.”

While the signing of this bill into law has been praised by some groups, others have been vocal about their opposition, saying that this legislation is actually harmful for minors.

In February, Jace Wilder of the Tennessee Equality Project said that the legislation “ignores the actual wishes and desires of the trans youth.”

Molly Rose Quinn, executive director of OUTMemphis said that “these bills are aggressive attacks on best-practice medical care and free speech,” and Lee’s decision to sign them “amounts to state sponsored violence.”

“The government has no place inserting itself into the private medical decisions that should be made by doctors, patients, and their families alone,” Quinn said.

Jenna Dunn, trans services specialist for OUTMemphis said, “to the youth of Tennessee and to the parents that support them, I want you to always remember that no matter what happens in life you are amazing, you are beautiful, worthy of joy, happiness, and respect. Do not ever allow anyone to tear you down mentally or physically, always demand respect and don’t accept anything less.”

Ivy Hill, director of gender justice for the Campaign for Southern Equality said, “the passage of this law cutting off trans young people’s access to life-saving care is devastating — but it won’t stop our community from holding and supporting each other.”

“Legal partners are preparing to challenge the law, community groups are supporting trans folks with strategies for healing and resilience, and we’re honored to be connecting families with funding, information, and provider referrals to preserve continuity of care for as many people as we can. No law can stop the transgender community from charting our paths to thriving and living authentically,” said Hill.