Right-Winger at SCOTUS Rally Vows to ‘Erase’ Trans Ideology ‘From This Earth’
The Supreme Court appears poised to uphold Tennessee’s ban on access to gender-affirming medical treatments for adolescents after hearing oral arguments on Wednesday, and right-wing activists are celebrating by vowing to completely stamp out America’s transgender community.
Chase Strangio, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, became the first trans American to argue before the Supreme Court. Strangio, representing the Department of Justice and the families of several trans youth in Tennessee, argued that the state’s law banning transgender teenagers’ access to hormone treatments and puberty blockers supporting their transition violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. The court’s conservative justices — who hold a controlling majority — seemed unconvinced.
The conservative justices seemed hesitant to overrule the state legislature on the matter, determining that they are “not the best situated to address issues like that,” as Chief Justice John Roberts put it. “The Constitution leaves that question to the people’s representatives, rather than to nine people, none of whom is a doctor,” Roberts said during arguments.
“It strikes me as a pretty heavy yellow light, if not red light, for this court to come in, the nine of us, and to constitutionalize the whole area, when the rest of the world, or at least the people who the countries that have been at the forefront of this, are pumping the brakes on this kind of treatment,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said.
The court’s liberal minority were uniformly skeptical of Tennessee’s position, repeatedly questioning how a law curtailing individual access to medical care on the basis of their gender identity doesn’t constitute gender-based discrimination and a violation of the Equal Protections Clause.
“It’s a dodge to say that this is not based on sex,” Justice Elena Kagan said to Tennessee’s solicitor general, J. Matthew Rice. “The medical purpose is utterly and entirely about sex.”
Should the court rule in Tennessee’s favor, the decision will have widespread ramifications for transgender youth living in one of the roughly two dozen states who have passed similar laws restricting minors’ access to gender-affirming care.
Outside of the court, protesters and supporters of the law held dueling rallies. At one point, right-wing commentator Matt Walsh took to the podium, where he declared that “this case is just the beginning of the fight,” accusing transgender people of wanting to “harm,” “damage,” and “destroy” children.
“We are not gonna rest until every child is protected, until trans ideology is entirely erased from the earth. That’s what we’re fighting for, and we will not stop until we achieve it,” he said.
Over a loud chorus of boos, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) declared that the pro-trangender position “comes from Satan.”
“What you’re hearing is the outcry from the demons in those that worship evil, that are abusing our children — brainwashing out children,” she said of protesters jeering at her.
Greene touted her efforts to pass legislation that would “make it a felony to perform so-called gender-affirming care on any child in America” in “all 50 states,” as well as the support she claims from the incoming Trump-Vance administration. Greene recently sponsored legislation that would ban transgender members of Congress and other government employees from using Capitol Hill facilities that match their gender identity. The bill was targeted at incoming Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), who this November became the first openly transgender person to be elected to the House of Representatives.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised that in his second presidency he will target the rights and civil liberties of transgender Americans. The Supreme Court could give him an assist by ruling that Tennessee’s law is constitutional.
After leaving oral arguments, Strangio told reporters: “Whatever happens we are the defiance.”
“We are collectively a refutation of everything they say about us,” he said. “And our fight for justice did not begin today, it will not end in June — whatever the courts decide.”
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