ACLU seeks to get ban on child gender care tossed

NASHVILLE — Lawyers representing Tennessee transgender teens and their families asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to block a ban on gender care for minors that a lower court allowed to go into effect.

Should the nation’s highest court agree to take the case, it would mark the first time the justices could weigh in on restrictions on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender people under 18. Since 2021, more than 20 states have enacted laws restricting or banning such treatments.

According to court documents filed Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union is asking the Supreme Court to review a September decision handed down by the US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit that allowed bans in Kentucky and Tennessee to remain in effect. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has described the decision as a “big win for democracy.”

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, lawyers representing transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers say they also intend to petition the Supreme Court later this week.

Advocates for transgender children argue that having access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy is safe, necessary health care backed by every major medical group.

“Over the past few months this vicious law has already had a disastrous impact in homes and communities across Tennessee,” said Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, staff attorney for the ACLU of Tennessee.

Tennessee’s Republican-dominant General Assembly, as well as some Democratic lawmakers, quickly advanced the ban earlier this year after Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Medical Center was accused of opening its transgender health clinic because it was profitable. Videos surfaced of a doctor at the hospital touting that gender-affirming procedures are “huge money makers.” Another video showed a staffer saying anyone with a religious objection should quit.