Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case with broad potential implications for transgender people in the United States. US v. Skrmetti, brought by the Biden administration for trans youth, seeks to overturn Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender children and slaps doctors who provide that care with civil penalties. The government argues that transgender people are covered under the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
A win for the Volunteer State defendant would likely set a precedent that would support restrictions on transgender people in health care whether they can use restrooms or play sports on teams corresponding to their gender identity.Meanwhile, transgender politics have been prominent in the recent election. Missoulans returned transgender Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who was blocked from speaking on the floor of the state legislature, to her office.
And in January, Delaware Rep.-elect Sarah McBride will make history in congressional representation, becoming the first openly transgender individual to serve in Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson subsequently issued a ban on transgender women like McBride from using women’s bathrooms in the Capitol.
As America heads into conservative-dominated government, what will the clash between the MAGA movement and an increasingly assertive transgender movement look like?
