In December, Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer, will make history as the first openly transgender attorney to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. Strangio opposes Tennessee’s Republican-backed law that bans gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Strangio, 41, represents a group of transgender individuals who filed a lawsuit challenging this law, which prohibits medical treatments such as hormones and surgeries for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on December 4 as President Joe Biden’s administration appeals a lower court’s decision that upheld Tennessee’s ban.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the challengers to divide their argument time between the Justice Department and the attorneys representing the original plaintiffs. Strangio will stand at the lectern in the ornate courtroom to present the plaintiffs’ case.
ACLU Legal Director Cecillia Wang praised Strangio as the leading U.S. legal expert on transgender rights. “He brings to the lectern not only brilliant constitutional lawyering but also the tenacity and heart of a civil rights champion,” Wang stated.
Since joining the ACLU in 2013, Strangio has co-directed its LGBTQ & HIV Project, opposing state laws that target transgender people. He has been involved in 12 legal challenges against laws similar to the one currently before the Supreme Court.
Strangio has also represented high-profile clients, including transgender student Gavin Grimm, who fought for the right to use the bathroom that corresponds with his gender identity, and Chelsea Manning, a transgender former U.S. soldier who served prison time for leaking classified documents.
The Justice Department reports that Tennessee is among 22 states that have passed measures targeting medical interventions for adolescents with gender dysphoria. This condition refers to the distress that arises when a person’s gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Supporters of the law argue that these treatments are experimental and potentially harmful. However, medical associations emphasize that gender dysphoria correlates with higher suicide rates and assert that gender-affirming care can be life-saving, backed by long-term studies showing its effectiveness.
Several plaintiffs, including two transgender boys, a transgender girl, and their parents, filed suit in Tennessee to defend the treatments that they claim have improved their happiness and well-being. The Justice Department intervened in the lawsuit to also challenge the law.
The challengers argue that banning care for transgender youth violates the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which promises equal protection, by discriminating against these adolescents based on sex and transgender status. The Justice Department’s filing highlighted that one of the law’s stated purposes is to enforce gender conformity and discourage adolescents from identifying as transgender.
The state has urged the Supreme Court to uphold the law. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti stated, “Tennessee lawfully exercised its power to regulate medicine by protecting minors from risky, unproven gender-transition interventions.”
In 2023, a federal judge blocked the law, ruling that it likely violates the 14th Amendment. However, the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judge’s preliminary injunction in a 2-1 decision.
The Supreme Court has addressed several LGBT rights cases in the past decade. In 2015, it legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. In 2020, it ruled that a landmark federal law forbidding workplace discrimination protects gay and transgender employees. In 2023, it decided that the constitutional right to free speech allows certain businesses to refuse services for same-sex weddings.
