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gender affirming healthcare
As Supreme Court Case Looms, 164 US Lawmakers Defend Trans Youth
"Decisions about healthcare belong to patients, their doctors, and their families—not politicians," said Rep. Mark Pocan.
Sep 03, 2024
As LGBTQ+ rights advocates prepare for oral arguments in a U.S. Supreme Court case about bans on gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, 164 members of Congress on Tuesday urged the justices to strike down Tennessee's 2023 law.
Tennessee is one of over two dozen states that has recently banned some or all of such care for trans minors, according to the Movement Advancement Project. In response to challenges from advocacy groups and the Biden administration, the right-wing high court agreed to take the case in June.
Arguments in United States v. Skrmetti are expected in the fall. The justices will decide whether Tennessee Senate Bill 1—which bans surgery, puberty blockers, and hormone treatment for trans youth—violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Congressional Democrats' new "friend of the court" brief argues that the court "should be highly skeptical of legislation banning safe and effective therapies that comport with the standard of care," and "should carefully examine the deeply troubling role that animosity towards transgender people has played in state legislation."
"The law at issue in this case is motivated by an animus towards the trans community and is part of a cruel, coordinated attack on trans rights by anti-equality extremists."
The amicus brief is led by House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Chair Ed Markey (D-Mass.).
"For years, far-right Republicans have been leading constant, relentless, and escalating attacks on transgender Americans," Markey said in a statement. "Their age-old, discriminatory playbook now threatens access to lifesaving, gender-affirming care for more than 100,000 transgender and nonbinary children living in states with these bans if the Supreme Court upholds laws like Tennessee's at the heart of Skrmetti that are fueled by ignorance and hate."
"It takes a special type of cruelty to target children for who they are," he continued. "I am proud to stand with my colleagues against dangerous, transphobic attacks and to reaffirm that our nation's commitment should be to equality and justice for all."
Pocan emphasized that "decisions about healthcare belong to patients, their doctors, and their families—not politicians."
"The law at issue in this case is motivated by an animus towards the trans community and is part of a cruel, coordinated attack on trans rights by anti-equality extremists," he added. "We strongly urge the Supreme Court to uphold the Constitution's promise of equal protection under the law and strike down Tennessee's harmful ban."
The brief is co-signed by another 150 Democrats in the House of Representatives, eight other Democratic senators, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with the party. It is also supported by the ACLU and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
"Thank you to the many members of Congress for standing with transgender and nonbinary youth across our country in asking the Supreme Court to find bans on lifesaving gender-affirming care to be unconstitutional," said HRC vice president of government affairs David Stacy.
"The government should not be able to interfere in decisions that are best made between families and doctors, particularly when that care is necessary and best practice," Stacy stressed. "These bans are dangerous, animated purely by anti-transgender bias, and have forced families to make heartbreaking decisions to support their children."
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Supreme Court Denies Biden Administration's Request to Reinstate Expanded Title IX Rule
In a 5-4 ruling—with Justice Neil Gorsuch joining the liberals in dissent—the court delayed Biden's expansion of Title IX protections to include gender identity and sexual orientation.
Aug 16, 2024
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday denied the Biden administration's emergency request to reinstate parts of its updated Department of Education Title IX rule expanding the definition of "discrimination on the basis of sex" to include sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy status.
The nation's highest court ruled 5-4—with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joining liberal colleagues Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent—that the Biden administration "has not provided this court a sufficient basis to disturb the lower courts' interim conclusions that the three provisions found likely to be unlawful are intertwined with and affect other provisions of the rule."
Republican attorneys general in more than two dozen states pushed courts to block the Biden administration's updated Title IX rule, which was set to take effect on August 1. The new rule has been on hold pending the outcome of litigation.
In her dissent, Sotomayor wrote: "A majority of this court leaves in place preliminary injunctions that bar the government from enforcing the entire rule—including provisions that bear no apparent relationship to respondents' alleged injuries. Those injunctions are overbroad."
While conservatives welcomed the ruling, LGBTQ+ advocates expressed disappointment.
"All young people deserve to show up to school and get an education without facing the threat of discrimination and bigotry. But five cruel justices on the Supreme Court just put countless LGBTQ+ students' health, safety, and lives in jeopardy," said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, president of the advocacy group Take Back the Court.
"The hateful right-wing movement with which these justices align themselves constantly invokes 'protecting children' as a false justification for their extremist agenda," Lipton-Lubet added. "But protecting children means keeping them safe from homophobic and transphobic violence; from gun violence; from attacks on equitable education; and from environmental destruction that threatens their futures. This court has failed them time and time again."
The Biden administration's effort to expand Title IX protections came amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws enacted in Republican-controlled states in recent years.
More than two dozen states have passed laws banning or restricting gender-affirming healthcare including puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapy, and surgery for minors. At least 11 states have also passed laws banning transgender students from using school restrooms and other facilities consistent with their gender identity, and 25 states have banned transgender girls from competing on female scholastic sports teams.
Responding to Friday's decision, an Education Department spokesperson said that "while we do not agree with this ruling, the department stands by the final Title IX regulations released in April 2024, and we will continue to defend those rules in the expedited litigation in the lower courts."
Friday's ruling is not the last word on the Biden administration's Title IX rule, as the decision merely delays the issue pending further litigation that could ultimately be revisited by the Supreme Court in the future.
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ACLU Issues Blueprint for Harris to Counter Far-Right Attacks on LGBTQ Rights
"When targeting LGBTQ people is a priority for our enemies, it's all the more critical that defending LGBTQ people remain a priority for our friends," said one ACLU official.
Aug 13, 2024
The American Civil Liberties Union released a detailed policy memo Tuesday outlining how Vice President Kamala Harris can and should work to protect LGBTQ+ people should she win the presidency in November.
The ACLU noted that Harris' record serving in the Biden-Harris administration provides the organization with "a strong basis for optimism that a Harris administration would continue to fight for LGBTQ people," but said it was driven to release the memo because of attacks on the community in recent years by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and lawmakers at the local, state, and federal level.
"When targeting LGBTQ people is a priority for our enemies, it's all the more critical that defending LGBTQ people remain a priority for our friends," said Mike Zamore, national director for policy and government affairs at the ACLU.
"The Biden-Harris administration has worked hard to earn the trust of LGBTQ people and our families through concerted efforts to protect transgender kids in our schools, defend the right to marriage equality, and ensure medical decisions stay between trans people and their doctors," added Zamore. "We're hopeful a Harris-Walz administration would build on this legacy, and we will bring all of our resources to bear to help them do so."
In the memo, titled Harris on LGBTQ Rights: Building on a Legacy of Undoing Harm, Expanding Protections, and Serving as a Bulwark Against State Attacks, the ACLU said one key action would be to issue an executive order directing federal agencies to examine how they can enhance access to gender-affirming healthcare in federally funded programs.
"This would send a powerful message about how a future-President Harris is prioritizing the healthcare needs of trans people, and it would strengthen coverage and access to gender-affirming care under federal policies and programs," reads the memo, which said protections could include mandatory coverage determinations and increased clarity for patients and providers.
"The Biden-Harris administration has worked hard to earn the trust of LGBTQ people and our families... We're hopeful a Harris-Walz administration would build on this legacy, and we will bring all of our resources to bear to help them do so."
The memo was released as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear a challenge brought by the federal government and families in Tennessee against a state law banning gender-affirming care for transgender youths. Tennessee is one of 24 states that ban medication and surgical care for transgender youths—care that is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and other health authorities. Six states have passed laws making it a felony to provide certain kinds of gender-affirming care.
In addition to appealing a lower court's decision to uphold Tennessee's ban, the Biden-Harris administration has sued several other state's over similar laws; ordered federal agencies to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, and credit lending; reversed a ban on transgender servicemembers in the military; and expanded access to gender-affirming care in government healthcare programs, including in prisons.
The ACLU also wants passage of the Equality Act—a bill introduced in 2019 that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The group says it is "prepared to harness the public pressure necessary to push the Senate to restore its ability to deliver full equality under the law for LGBTQ individuals."
The ACLU—which also plans to publish memos this month outlining steps Harris should take to promote abortion rights, voting rights, immigrants, and other issues—also outlined how federal agencies can strengthen protections for LGBTQ people under a Harris administration.
The Department of Education should unveil "more robust enforcement of nondiscrimination rules and more vigorous investigation and resolutions of Education Office of Civil Rights complaints based on sex discrimination," reads the memo. "It is worth noting that the most recent department regulations clarifying how Title IX can be used to protect LGBTQ students are enjoined in certain states, so the administration must continue to fight in the courts to lift that injunction."
The ACLU also called on the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights to provide more robust enforcement of nondiscrimination rules, proactively ensuring public and private insurance policies don't exclude case for transgender patients and "rigorously investigating all complaints of discrimination."
A potential Harris administration, said the group, could work with states to ensure they have the resources needed to expand pro-equality protections, as nearly half of U.S. states work to erode LGBTQ+ rights.
"State employees and state-funded programs should be fully trained on LGBTQ competency, and state budgets must provide dedicated funding streams for LGBTQ-specific programs," reads the memo. "State medical facilities and insurance programs can ensure trans and gender-expansive people have access to the care that is medically necessary to live their lives. State housing programs must have policies in place to ensure they are affirming and accessible to LGBTQ people."
In the face of attacks from GOP-controlled state legislatures and with "a landmark Supreme Court case on the horizon," said James Esseks, co-director of the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Project, the ACLU recognizes the Biden-Harris administration's "strong record of protecting and expanding the freedom of LGBTQ people."
"We would encourage a Harris-Walz administration to continue this commitment and do everything in its power to protect our rights, our healthcare," said Esseks, "and our freedom to be ourselves without fear."
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