U.S. v. Skrmetti began when a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee, Lambda Legal, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on behalf of Samantha and Brian Williams of Nashville and their 16-year-old transgender daughter, as well as two other plaintiff families filing anonymously and Memphis-based physician Dr. Susan Lacy. The plaintiff families and Dr. Lacy argued that Tennessee’s law, SB1, violates the Equal Protection rights of transgender adolescents. Under President Joe Biden, the United States intervened to also argue that the Tennessee law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. After President Trump’s inauguration, the U.S. reversed its position. 

The Court allowed the law to take effect, finding that Tennessee’s SB1 regulated solely certain health care procedures and did not discriminate based on a person’s sex or transgender status. The Supreme Court expressly limited the reach of its decision to this specific law, relying on its text, the record in the case, and the absence of evidence of animus. The Court left intact and untouched both Supreme Court precedents and circuit court precedents that hold, implicitly or explicitly, that laws targeting transgender people are presumptively unconstitutional. The Court also expressly declined to reach—and left for another day—certain doctrinal questions, such as whether heightened scrutiny applies to laws classifying based on transgender status, leaving favorable circuit court decisions in place. Finally, the decision certainly does not require any state to enact a health care ban or other form of discrimination.

The U.S. v. Skrmetti decision is a painful setback but we have plenty of tools left to fight bans on health care and other discriminatory laws targeting transgender people, and the Supreme Court carefully left us paths to do just that. We know politicians across the country will continue to be devoted to driving transgender people out of public life and ending our access to the health care we need. We will continue to fight for our freedom to be ourselves and our equal right to self-determination under the law. 

In response to the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti, hundreds of local LGBTQ+ and trans-led groups organized Proud & Free events in dozens of cities and localities in states across the country. These actions followed decision day events in New  York City and Washington, D.C., where Lambda Legal and our partners at the ACLU joined advocates and community members in protest of the ruling that put politicians between trans people, our families, and our doctors. The Proud & Free mobilizations are a testament to the power of local leadership across the LGBTQ+ movement—gasps of resilience, defiance, and pride in every corner of the country. 

Since 2021, 26 states have banned hormone therapies for transgender youth. Conservative state legislatures targeted trans youth and their families, pushed by conservative and far-right groups using copy-cat legislation and peddling misinformation and conspiracy theories. These bans are about transgender or nonbinary youth having access to medically necessary services and treatments commonly provided to cisgender youth, that their doctors have prescribed them to treat their gender dysphoria and improve their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Not having this care can result in devastating consequences for their health and wellbeing. This lifesaving care has been approved by all the major medical associations and has been scientifically proven to be safe and effective. 

All of us – Black, white or brown, Native or newcomer, transgender or not – deserve to shine bright as our true selves, without being forced to dim our light. That’s why we are speaking out in support of transgender youth, taking on those who try to bully their way into power, ban books and medical care, and pass laws controlling who we can be and love. Together, we can light the way to a better future, where all of us are free to be ourselves and thrive. 

In this moment of intense fear and anxiety, we must emphasize that a majority of Americans believe transgender people should have the freedom to be themselves and live their lives.  Whenever a powerful few have tried to pick and choose who counts, there have always been those of us who showed up for each other and built welcoming communities. 

Now it’s our time to show up, reject division, and chart a better future for all of us.