United States v. Skrmetti
In 2023, the state of Tennessee enacted a categorical ban on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth. The ban deliberately and exclusively targets transgender youth and prohibits all gender-affirming medical care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The United States, as well as three transgender youth, their families, and a Tennessee physician, challenged this ban in the United States Supreme Court.
Represented by law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, Juvenile Law Center joined The Trevor Project and National Center for Youth Law in filing an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court. Our brief argued that the banned medical care both improves mental health and well-being and decreases suicide risk for transgender youth. The brief further argued that transgender health care bans disproportionately harm vulnerable populations, including transgender youth of color, those living in poverty or in rural areas, foster youth and youth involved in the juvenile legal system, and those experiencing housing instability.