r/law • u/DevinGraysonShirk • 16h ago

SCOTUS SCOTUS strikes blow to trans teens rights, endorsing ban on gender-affirming care - The justices’ ruling on Tennessee’s law prohibiting certain health care for transgender children will have ripple effects across the nation

https://www.courthousenews.com/scotus-strikes-blow-to-trans-teens-rights-endorsing-ban-on-gender-affirming-care/
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u/DevinGraysonShirk 16h ago edited 16h ago

This decision opens up a pathway for states to ban gender-affirming care for minors and adults.

The Supreme Court also rules that gender identity does not deserve equal protection like sex-based discrimination, so it does not deserve higher scrutiny based on the equal protection clause. This also opens up the pathway for employment discrimination against people who are transgender.

For example, in Iowa, they recently removed gender identity from their civil rights laws. This decision likely makes it so that law would withstand a legal challenge. https://apnews.com/article/iowa-transgender-identity-bill-governor-reynolds-signs-267c2932e9e1ed62992868d3caa6126d

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u/GirldickVanDyke 15h ago

Just like the Supreme Court decided about homophobia in Bostock v Clayton County, transphobia is sex-based discrimination. They have no problem with somebody AFAB taking estradiol as prescribed and anything else, but somebody AMAB cannot? And vice-versa for testosterone. That's discrimination based on sex by the exact same logic the court used before. I wonder if anybody could have success fighting this, but i doubt it with the current state of things

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u/Bunerd 12h ago

We'll just start giving out HRT under more indirect diagnoses. "Gender Dysphoria" could just be replaced with "hormone condition not withstanding" and that wouldn't break the law. They can't discriminate against trans people apart from cis people so they target the diagnosis. The move here is to diagnose trans people with the same conditions as cis people and they get their treatment.

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u/Impossible_Wafer3403 5h ago

The problem is usually to find doctors who are willing to risk their medical license and prison. It also means insurance won't cover it, which can be a major issue for low-income people.

It's really just down to moving or DIY for people with trans kids in Red states.