Trans rights and wrongs

After being blocked by a district court for more than a year, Alabama’s ban on administering gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth can now be enforced by the state. In its ruling, a three-judge panel from the 11th US circuit court of appeals overturned the lower court’s injunction thereby making it a felony to treat any trans person under the age of 19 with puberty blockers or hormones. The ruling also likely paved the way for other states covered by the 11th circuit – namely Florida and Georgia – to argue that preliminary injunctions blocking the enforcement of their own bans on gender-affirming care for young people should be lifted. According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 20 US states now have similar laws, and it’s becoming clear that the issue will end up in front of the US Supreme Court sooner rather than later. For an indication of how that might go, consider that the panel’s decision – written by the Trump-appointed Judge Barbara Lagoa – draws heavily from the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Dobbs v. Jackson, arguing that, like abortion, parents’ right to control their transgender child’s medical care is not “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition”.

Photograph Julie Bennett/Getty Images