Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Law Banning Trans Drugs for Kids

The Tennessee law banning hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers for the purpose of gender transitioning children, was upheld by the United States Supreme Court this week in U.S. v. Skrmetti.

The case was brought by the Biden administration, three families with transgender children, and one doctor. They sued over the state ban, signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee in March 2023.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti defended the state law, saying it is about protecting kids from the consequences of long-lasting decisions that they do not yet fully understand, and defending children from irreversible sex change interventions like puberty blockers and chemical castrations, that lead to permanent physical harm.

Skrmetti noted in his press conference after the decision that many European countries have also severely limited gender transitioning procedures or banned them altogether after looking at the medical evidence of physical harm.

Twenty-four states have also passed laws prohibiting puberty blockers or hormone therapy for those under the age of 18.

This case will likely become the nationwide precedent for allowing states to states to make these decisions, and go a long way to preventing gender transitioning in minor children. It should also have an impact on the issue of biological boys participating and dominating in girls sports in schools across the country.

In early June, the Trump administration put more than 1600 California schools “on blast” for violating Title IX and equal protection in girls’ sports.

US Assistant Attorney General for the civil rights division Harmeet Dhillon issued a letter to more than 1,600 California schools warning that they must uphold the equal protection clause in the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis if sex.

So what if schools don’t?

President Trump has already threatened California with the loss of federal funding, which at this point appears to be the only thing Governor Gavin Newsom seems to understand.

Gov. Newsom even capitulated to Charlie Kirk in his podcast that it was “deeply unfair” to have trans athletes competing against women in sports. But those were hollow words as the governor did nothing about it.

Rob Bonta just sued the US Justice Department over its threat to sue California schools if they allow boys to compete in girls sports. Bonta’s lawsuit is attempting to prevent the Trump Administration from withholding funding over the issue.

The California Attorney General’s June 9th press statement:

California Attorney General Rob Bonta today filed a pre-enforcement lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. DOJ) in anticipation of imminent legal retaliation against California’s school systems. Last week, U.S. DOJ issued a letter requesting certification from California school districts that they will not comply with longstanding state anti-discrimination law that provides for the participation in sports for K-12 students consistent with gender identity. Today, the California Department of Education notified U.S. DOJ that the state will not certify to its demands, which would require school districts to violate not only existing state law, but also the U.S. Constitution. In the lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to uphold California’s anti-discrimination law and prevent the Trump Administration from taking retaliatory action, such as withholding or conditioning federal funding, over the state’s refusal to comply with U.S. DOJ’s unlawful demands.

“The President and his Administration are demanding that California school districts break the law and violate the Constitution – or face legal retaliation. They’re demanding that our schools discriminate against the students in their care and deny their constitutionally protected rights,” said Attorney General Bonta. “As we’ve proven time and again in court, just because the President disagrees with a law, that doesn’t make it any less of one. As California’s chief legal officer, I’ll always fight to uphold and defend the laws of our state, especially those that protect and ensure the civil rights of the most vulnerable among us.”

The California Department of Education also announced it is not going to comply with the Trump administration Justice Department’s demands.

Unless Governor Newsom finds a way to overturn/repeal/ban the 2013 bill AB 1266, this won’t end well for California. I wrote about AB 1266 in 2013, warning that if passed, AB 1266 “has the potential of turning all schools into beta test sites for social experiments.” The abhorrent bill was authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, ​to require students be allowed to participate in sports and programs as the gender with which they identify, rather than their biological gender.