Three U.S. court rulings this week investigated laws that restrict the rights of transgender children, including the first time the U.S. Supreme Court has engaged in a ban on gender-affirming care.
Most Republican-controlled states have now banned gender-affirming health care such as puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors, and banned transgender girls from participating in women’s sports competitions.
Most of the measures face legal challenges, and this week’s rulings went both ways. The Supreme Court said Idaho can enforce its ban on gender-affirming healthcare for minors while court cases proceed. An Ohio state judge has suspended a law against health care and sports participation that was about to go into effect. And a federal appeals court ruled that West Virginia cannot bar a transgender girl from participating on her school’s track team.
Here are some things you should know about court rulings and the latest legislative actions.
On Tuesday, an Ohio judge blocked enforcement of a law that was set to take effect April 24 banning gender-affirming care for minors and keeping transgender girls off girls’ school sports teams.
Franklin County Judge Michael Holbrook said in his written opinion that the law, adopted in January with a legislative override of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto, is likely to violate the requirement that the state’s laws address only one question. He noted that lawmakers added the ban on gender-affirming care to sports-related legislation because they were unable to adopt it separately.
The ban on execution is in effect for two weeks or until a judge holds a hearing to request a stay of execution while the case proceeds through the courts.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Idaho can enforce a ban on providing puberty blockers or hormones to minors. The law also prohibits gender-affirming surgeries, which is extremely rare for those under 18.
At least two dozen states have enacted similar bans in recent years, almost all of them challenged in court. Twenty other states are currently enforcing them.
The Idaho decision was the first time the issue had reached the Supreme Court.
But the ministers did not delve into the constitutionality of the ban. Instead, they ruled by a 6-3 vote that the execution could proceed except against the two transgender teenagers they prosecuted. And most of the judge’s written opinions dealt with judicial proceedings, exploring whether it is appropriate for courts to impose universal injunctions blocking laws while questions about them work their way through the courts.
The first ban on gender-affirming care for minors was adopted by Arkansas in 2021.
It was also the first to be completely blocked – and not just temporarily – by a federal court.
Last week, 10 judges on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis heard arguments on Arkansas’ appeal of the ruling that blocked the law.
District court appeals often take months to decide, and any decision will likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has already been asked to block similar laws that are on the books in Kentucky and Tennessee.
A three-judge panel from another federal appeals court, the 4th U.S. Circuit, based in Richmond, Virginia, ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that West Virginia’s ban on girls’ sports competitions by trans girls violates the rights from a teenage athlete who challenged it.
The result: 13-year-old Becky Pepper Jackson, who has identified as a girl since third grade, can remain on the high school girls’ cross country and track and field teams.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement that the ban remains in effect for others, although a spokesperson for the ACLU-West Virginia said it is unclear whether there are other children in the state who are affected by the law.
Other judges temporarily blocked enforcement in Arizona, Idaho and Utah. But the New York-based 2nd Circuit revived a challenge to Connecticut’s policy of allowing transgender girls to compete in women’s sports, sending it back to a lower court last year without ruling on its merits.
At least 24 states have laws or policies in place that ban transgender girls and women from certain sports competitions, and most are enforcing them.
And some local bans are being litigated: A federal judge has ruled to refuse to block the New York state government from taking legal action against the Nassau County ban, which is also being challenged by a local roller derby league. .
The pace of Republican efforts to pass state restrictions has slowed this year, but measures before legislatures continue to target transgender people.
On Monday, Tennessee lawmakers gave near-final approval to a bill that would require public school officials to notify parents if their student identifies at school as transgender. States like Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana and North Carolina already have similar laws in place.
Last week, Alabama lawmakers advanced legislation to define who is considered male or female based on reproductive systems rather than gender identity. Lawmakers in more than a dozen states are also seeking this year to codify a definition of the sexes.
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