Many years ago, a 16-year–old woman entered the hospital with a shortness of breath. She was later diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism that almost took her life. The initial cause was seeking gender affirming care through black market avenues.
“That young trans woman grew up to become the adult that is standing here before you today,” Channyn Lynne Parker, the CEO of Brave Space Alliance (and incoming Interim CEO of Equality Illinois) said at a June 18 press conference at Center on Halsted (the Center), 3656 N. Halsted St.
The Supreme Court decision released the same day, affirming a ban on gender-affirming care in Tennessee, closely affected many of the speakers who’d gathered at the Center.
“I started to think about what will happen to young people in Tennessee now,” she said. “They’ll likely turn to riskier, unsupervised means to meet their needs.”
The 6-3 decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti has now opened a pathway for healthcare discrimination against transgender individuals across the country. UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute noted in a June 18 statement that the decision affects about 112,400 transgender youth from ages 13-17 who live in Tennessee and 24 other states with similar laws banning gender-affirming care for young people.
The Court’s conservative majority wrote that concerns about this evolving field of medical treatment were valid enough and the bans did not violate the 14th amendment equal protection clause, as the plaintiffs claimed.
The decision came as a strict ideological split with the three liberal justices on the bench deciding against the Tennessee ban. Delivering the dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor described the decision by the conservative majority as inviting legislatures to “engage in discrimination” and allowing “untold harm to transgender children and the parents and families who love them.”
Asher McMaher, executive director of TransUpfront, who works directly with trans youth, said they understand the danger posed firsthand.
“In this year, we’ve had 22 deaths reported to us. We know that this care is not just needed and wanted,” Asher said. “It really is life saving.”
For Evanston Mayor and congressional candidate Daniel Biss, the issue also hits close to home.
“’I’m also not only here this afternoon as the mayor,” Biss said. “I’m also here as a father of two extraordinary, healthy, beautiful children who are able to be who they are only because of gender-affirming care.”
“The court got it wrong and history is going to reflect that,” Michelle Garcia, deputy legal director of the ACLU, said at the press conference.
Chicago’s Howard Brown Health released a statement shortly after the decision stating they see the benefits of gender-affirming care firsthand, describing it as “life changing and life saving.”
“That is why gender-affirming care for transgender youth is endorsed by every major medical, pediatric and psychological association in the United States,” said the statement.
In Illinois, there are no laws banning gender-affirming care for minors although earlier this year, the Trump administration signed an executive order barring federal funds from organizations providing hormone therapy and puberty suppressants to minors.
It was soon challenged in court and blocked by a preliminary injunction.
McMaher announced that in the wake of the news they joined a call with organizations from all over the nation working to mobilize. They announced a planned protest this Saturday at noon at Federal Plaza in the Loop against the supreme court decision.
They stand committed to helping families relocate if needed to find a home in a state that can provide gender-affirming care for their children.
McMaher said, “Here in the state of Illinois, we are lucky to be a sanctuary state, but that does not stop us from standing up together, united for healthcare for our youth, both here and across the entire country.”
