We are down the rabbit hole, and every queer person needs to be concerned about how deep that rabbit hole goes.
The Supreme Court ruled mid-June that Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is not unconstitutional, based on the idea that the law has nothing to do with sex discrimination and is therefore not protected under the Equal Protection Clause. When the news broke, someone pointed out to me that the ruling was not unexpected. True. Even Out & Equal, during a recent seminar, attempted to put a positive spin on the news by saying what happened isn’t as bad as everyone thinks.
However, for trans kids and their parents, the ruling stings just the same. And not just for those in Tennessee. Twenty-five states have laws barring parents from determining the best care for their trans child. For all their squawking about upholding parental rights, conservative legislators have had no problem denying the right of a parent to weigh what care is best in consultation with their child and their child’s doctors.
Instead of recognizing that legislators with no medical background should avoid determining health care for others, the conservative Justices have laid the groundwork for a future of fear. Fear for the health and safety of trans kids. Fear that, as a parent, your ability to determine health outcomes for your child could be limited by legislators. Fear that you will have to abandon the place you call home, your work, and your family for places where your child can be respected, regardless of gender.
Fear that the federal government will see the ruling as an opening to ban gender-affirming care not only for children but for transgender adults. Now that the Supreme Court’s foot is in the door, what’s to prevent conservative legislators and organizations from pushing that door farther open? Marjorie Taylor Greene has already filed her bill, the “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would essentially take bills like Tennessee’s and apply them to every transgender child in the U.S. I can’t imagine amending that to include adults would be a challenge.
As a community, queer Americans face the fear that states—and the federal government—will start coming after other rights. We can pretend this ruling doesn’t impact us if we’re not transgender. Except that is just painting a pretty picture. I am hard-pressed to believe organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom, Moms for Liberty, or Liberty Counsel aren’t considering what the next steps are to continue stripping away freedoms from the queer community.
Odd that the very organizations with “freedom” and “liberty” in their names are about anything but. I guess their freedom from having to deal with that icky gay stuff trumps allowing queer Americans to live their lives and be true to themselves. The Supreme Court has certainly shown time and again that their fear of the queer community trumps any other consideration. Clarence Thomas made that clear in the Dobbs ruling when he said the Court needs to reconsider Obergefell.
Because we will get there. Lawsuits are working their way up the judicial ladder that could determine how big of a fight the queer community is facing—and just how much we’ll be digging ourselves out of that rabbit hole.
