With months to go before the U.S. Supreme Court rules on gender-affirming care for minors, the Trump administration has changed the federal government’s legal position on the case. The U.S. Department of Justice notified the high court Friday that the U.S. is now backing the state of Tennessee and its ban on the care.
Under the Biden administration, the DOJ had been aligned with families challenging the Tennessee law, which bars transgender minors from accessing treatment like hormone therapy or puberty blockers.
“Last year, the United States filed briefs contending that (the law) violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment,” DOJ wrote in a letter to the court. “Following the change in Administration, the Department of Justice has reconsidered the United States’ position in this case.”
Under the current administration, the DOJ said it would not have urged the Supreme Court to take up the case the way that it did under the Biden administration, but that it won’t seek to dismiss the case.
The ACLU and Lambda Legal represent the Tennessee families and medical providers that sued to challenge the law.
“This latest move from the Trump administration is another indication that they are using the power of the federal government to target marginalized groups for further discrimination,” the ACLU said in a statement. “We condemn this latest move and will continue to fight to vindicate the constitutional rights of all LGBTQ people.”
The reversal is in line with an executive order Trump signed last month, cutting funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for those under the age of 19.
Families that left Tennessee because of the law have also signed onto a legal challenge to Trump’s executive order.
Kristen Chapman moved her family from Tennessee to Virginia so that her daughter, Willow, could access gender-affirming care.
Chapman said her daughter didn’t get the care they moved for in their new state, either. Willow’s appointment came the day after Trump signed the order. She and other plaintiffs said they’ve since been denied care.
The court heard oral arguments for the case in December and is expected to issue a final decision in June.
