Kentucky families and civil rights groups are calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against harmful laws that restrict access to healthcare for transgender youth, as the court prepares to hear the pivotal case U.S. v. Skrmetti. The case challenges Tennessee’s ban on medical treatments for transgender adolescents, a law mirrored by a similar ban in Kentucky.
Kentucky parents of transgender children, alongside groups such as SAGE, the National Trans Bar Association, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, filed a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that these bans are discriminatory. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky and other advocacy organizations, the families assert that transgender youth are being unfairly targeted by laws that deny them access to necessary medical care, while non-transgender minors can still receive the same treatments.
“These laws intentionally discriminate by denying transgender youth access to the only effective treatment for gender dysphoria, while allowing other youth access to the same medications,” said Corey Shapiro, Legal Director at the ACLU of Kentucky. “It’s not only unlawful but also devastating for parents who have seen the positive impact of this care.”
The families’ brief joins over 30 other submissions from medical experts, bioethicists, and family law professors, all urging the Supreme Court to overturn the bans. In the coming months, the Court will decide whether states like Tennessee and Kentucky can continue to impose restrictions on transgender healthcare — laws that many argue violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
Advocates for transgender rights point to the overwhelming medical consensus that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, and necessary. The stakes of this case are high, as 26 states across the country have already passed similar laws restricting healthcare for transgender youth.
