LDF Files Amicus Brief Defending Access to Critical Health Care Services for Transgender Youth

Read a PDF of our statement here.

Today, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), alongside co-counsel Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, filed an amicus brief in United States v. Skrmetti - a case challenging a Tennessee law that bans medically necessary gender-affirming health care for transgender youth.

The brief argues that the health care ban is rooted in animus and violates the Fourteenth Amendment. By placing the bill within the broader context of nationwide attacks against LGBTQ people, the brief makes clear that Tennessee's ban is grounded in discrimination rather than concern for the health and well-being of transgender youth. This has specifically led to significant harms to Black transgender people.

This case began after Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 1 (SB1) into law last year, effectively banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth and ignoring well-established best practices in medicine. The Biden-Harris Administration - as well as a group of transgender youth, their parents, and a medical provider - asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appeals court upheld the ban. The Court will consider this case during its upcoming session, which begins in October 2024.

"At the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment is the principle that the law must protect all of us equally," said Sam Spital, Director of Litigation and General Counsel at LDF. "Statutes like Tennessee's SB1, which are grounded in false stereotypes about transgender people and single them out for disfavored treatment, are at war with this fundamental principle."

"SB1 was one of over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced throughout the country in 2023, and must be viewed in that context," said Avatara Smith-Carrington, Assistant Counsel at LDF. "This law clearly singles out transgender people for unequal treatment, exacerbating the already-rampant discrimination they encounter."

Today's filing can be found here.

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation's first civil rights law organization. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957-although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.