Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case of United States v. Skrmetti. This case was brought by the Department of Justice, and was argued in the Supreme Court by ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, a trans-identifying woman. The case is centered on whether or not Tennessee’s ban on hormone therapy and gender-affirming care for minors is constitutional, based on whether or not it is sex-discriminatory.
In the oral arguments heard on Dec. 4, Chase Strangio, who argued that toddlers experience gender dysphoria, was asked whether or not the term transgender was immutable by Justice Samuel Alito. Strangio claimed that “strong, biological basis” satisfied the immutability test, but then immediately got forced into a corner when Alito pointed out that if people change gender identity, then it isn’t an immutable characteristic. This essentially destroys the DOJ’s argument - that Tennessee’s ban is sex-discriminatory and thus should be struck down. But as Justice Alito correctly states, if gender isn’t immutable then it can’t be co-defined by sex and therefore doesn’t violate anti sex-discrimination.
Meanwhile, on the other ideological side of the bench, Justice Sonia Sotomayor compared children being sterilized to taking a pill of aspirin. Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson, who famously couldn’t define what a woman was in her confirmation hearings, likened overturning the ban on child sterilization to Loving v. Virginia, a case that overturned a ban on interracial marriage. Fellow liberal Justice Elena Kagan miraculously kept quiet throughout all of this.
Tennessee has a duty to protect its children from life-altering and life-ruining “care” of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. As a state, they have the right to pass laws to do so.
It’s unlikely the case will succeed due to the 6-3 Conservative majority on the Supreme Court and Trump’s incoming inauguration. Be thankful for Justices like Samuel Alito who clearly still have sanity at this ridiculous time. Be thankful for others such as AG Skrmetti for not backing down, and for Solicitor General Rice who challenged Brown-Jackson’s statements on hormone blockers. Be thankful we have some sanity left in our institutions.
James Cowart