The Supreme Court announced Monday it will wade into a major dispute implicating transgender rights next term by agreeing to review the constitutionality of Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors.
The high court previously avoided many opportunities to get involved in cases involving transgender protections, but after being urged by the Biden administration to take up the latest dispute, the justices agreed to do so in a brief order.
The battle over whether Tennessee’s law unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of sex is slated to take place during the court’s next annual term. Oral arguments are likely to be scheduled close to the end of this calendar year.
The justices’ eventual decision is set to impact the laws passed in the Tennessee and other Republican-led legislatures. Nearly half of the country has banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, affecting an estimated 100,000 trans adolescents and teenagers.
Some laws also limit care for transgender adults, and bills introduced this year in a handful of conservative states aim to outlaw gender-affirming medical care completely.
Legal challenges mounted by transgender youths and their families have been met with mixed results, and federal appeals courts have split on whether laws that ban gender-affirming care are constitutional.
