Trans Youth Erasure Gearing Up (AUDIO)

Last week Ohio's Governor Mike DeWine signed SB 104 into law that includes a bathroom ban provision that prohibits over 8,500 transgender K-12 students in Ohio from using restrooms & locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. On December 4th the Supreme Court consider a case about bodily autonomy & whether the courts have a right to come between patients & medical professionals in United States v. Skrmetti. The court is being asked to consider the legality of Tennessee’s ban on access to best-practice transgender medical care for youth. The case could have far-reaching implications for our LGBTQ community’s nondiscrimination & doctors’ ability to treat their patients without political interference. If the court decides to reject their own logic in Bostock v. Clayton County as it rejected clear & longstanding precedent in Roe v. Wade & deny transgender youth equal protection under the Constitution then bans on transgender medical care will remain in place across the country. Haley Norris, Center for American Progress LGBTQ Policy Analyst stated, “Bans on transgender health care are part of a larger attack on sex discrimination protections that will harm bodily autonomy by restricting reproductive rights & access to medical care, all of which are a part of the far right’s attempts to redefine sex & gender. The fallout of the Skrmetti decision, which likely won’t be released until the summer of 2025, is something that everyone concerned about bodily autonomy should be worried about.” I talked to Southern Equality’s Alexis Stratton about this & other trans issues in this exclusive podcast. LISTEN