BY: DM
Published 4 hours ago
The U.S. Supreme Court has wiped out a string of appellate decisions that sided with transgender people in North Carolina, West Virginia, Idaho, and Oklahoma. Instead, the Court sent each case back for a fresh review based on its recent decision in Tennessee.
In a 6-3 conservative majority decision on June 18, the Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors experiencing gender dysphoria, Reuters reports. The court then instructed lower courts to reapply that new standard before ruling again on challenges to state health insurance and birth certificate policies.
These were the same rulings that blocked harsh laws targeting trans youth. Those included bans on gender-affirming healthcare and limits on changing gender markers on IDs. By vacating those decisions, the Supreme Court didn’t just wipe the legal wins off the board. It also opened the floodgates for anti-trans laws to move forward without interference.
The pro-trans cases will have to be reevaluated.
This decision hits hard. For families with trans kids, it means healthcare options could disappear overnight. By tossing out pro-trans rulings from the Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, the Court signaled that lower judges must factor in the Tennessee precedent. That precedent held that banning gender-affirming care for youth did not breach the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection guarantee.
In North Carolina, the Fourth Circuit struck down the state employee health plan’s blanket exclusion of medical and surgical treatment leading to or in connection with sex changes or modifications, according to Reuters. The court found that the policy discriminated against transgender workers. Now, that ruling is on hold as judges reevaluate the case. Similarly, West Virginia’s Medicaid policy had long denied coverage for gender-affirming medical care. The same court had deemed the policy unconstitutional. That ruling must also be reopened and reconsidered in light of the high court’s latest guidance.
Out West, Idaho and Oklahoma must also hit rewind. The Ninth Circuit’s decision to allow a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s ban on Medicaid-funded gender-affirming surgeries is now paused; judges there will weigh the Tennessee ruling before moving forward. In Oklahoma, the Tenth Circuit had restored a challenge to the state’s refusal to let transgender people amend the gender marker on their birth certificates. Still, that victory has been vacated and sent back for reconsideration. Across all four cases, lower courts must now apply the Supreme Court’s Tennessee framework before issuing any new decisions.
What does this mean for the trans community?
The Supreme Court’s decision will have a serious impact on trans youth. Victories in the lower courts had offered real hope, with access to medical treatments and legal affirmation of gender identity. Now, those gains hang in the balance again. The Tennessee precedent could also serve as a green light for 25 other states to roll back protections or enforce bans of their own.
“This is a blow for trans youth who simply want to grow up healthy, supported, and seen. It is not, however, where the legal battle ends,” the ACLU emphasized. “Importantly, the Supreme Court limited its ruling to just Tennessee’s law. It did not decide on the broader questions about the legality of discrimination against transgender people in other areas.”
Do you think the Fourteenth Amendment should protect access to gender-affirming care? Comment below!
