ACLU warns that Dobbs decision is now being used against trans youth

History was made Wednesday when ACLU attorney Chase Strangio pleaded for the medical rights of transgender youth—and became the first transgender person to argue before the Supreme Court while doing so.

The case in question, United States v. Skrmetti, challenges a Tennessee law currently in place which bans transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming medical care such as puberty blockers.

While advocates anxiously await the Supreme Court’s decision, Daily Kos spoke with Gillian Branstetter, a spokesperson for the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project and LGBTQ & HIV Project, about why this ban must be deemed unconstitutional and what this ruling could mean for every American. 

Branstetter explained that this “wave of laws targeting transgender people”—referencing bathroom and military bans—is ‘life-threatening” to many trans youth and adults.

Legislation targeting transgender people skyrocketed since 2020 across the U.S., with conservative lawmakers introducing over 400 anti-trans bills in 2022 alone. 

But how can states get away with banning access to medical care? Branstetter explains that bigoted lawmakers in Tennessee are relying on the same Supreme Court decision that took away women’s rights to abortion. 

“…It’s the exact same politicians and the exact same activists banning abortion who are targeting [the trans community],” she said.