US Court Upholds Tennessee Ban on Transgender Procedures for Children

A young girl at the annual New York City Pride March in New York City on June 25, 2023. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

An appeals court upheld Tennessee’s ban on transgender procedures for children, ruling that the law does not violate the 14th Amendment as claimed in a lawsuit challenging the ban.

In March, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law SB0001, which prohibits transgender treatment for minors. It came into effect in July. The bill requires children who started such treatments before July 1 to end it by March 31, 2024. In April, groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit challenging the law on behalf of families with “trans-identifying” children.

On Sept. 28, the Sixth Circuit Court of the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the petitioner’s challenge in a 2–1 ruling, upholding Tennessee’s ban on transgender treatment for children.

In the lawsuit, the families argued that the Tennessee law violated their due process rights under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The due process clause of the 14th Amendment states that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

In the court opinion (pdf), the judges wrote that they have to consider “norms that are ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition’” in order to determine whether a specific law violates the amendment.

“This country does not have a ‘deeply rooted’ tradition of preventing governments from regulating the medical profession in general or certain treatments in particular, whether for adults or their children,” the judges wrote.

“The government has the power to reasonably limit the use of drugs. ... If that’s true for adults, it’s assuredly true for their children. ... This country does not have a custom of permitting parents to obtain banned medical treatments for their children.”

The court said that nobody debates the existence of gender dysphoria or related distress. However, the question is whether the use of puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgery should be allowed on those aged 17 and younger.

“This is a relatively new diagnosis with ever-shifting approaches to care over the last decade or two,“ the court’s opinion reads. ”Under these circumstances, it is difficult for anyone to be sure about predicting the long-term consequences of abandoning age limits of any sort for these treatments.”

Responses to Court Decision

The ACLU called the judgment a “devastating result” for transgender youth.

“Denying transgender youth equality before the law and needlessly withholding the necessary medical care their families and their doctors know is right for them has caused and will continue to cause serious harm,” it said.

A book, "Beyond the Gender Binary," shipped to children from the Queer Trans Project, on April 25, 2023. The Epoch Times

“We are assessing our next steps and will take further action in defense of our clients and the constitutional rights of transgender people in Tennessee and across the country.”

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, a Republican, called the decision a “big win for democracy.”

“Decisions that are not clearly resolved by the Constitution should be resolved by the people through their elected representatives. I am so proud of our team who stood strong against the overwhelming resources arrayed against Tennessee in this case,” he said in a Sept. 29 statement.

Republican state Rep. William Lamberth called the decision a “huge win in the fight against a dangerous and extreme ideology that harms children and ruins lives.”

“When it comes to protecting our children, Tennessee will continue to lead the way,” he wrote in a Sept. 29 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Protecting Children

Tennessee’s victory in the transgender lawsuit comes as several states are taking action against transgender treatments for children.

In March, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed a bill banning child gender transition treatment. Though the law was suppressed through a preliminary injunction by a court, another court upheld the ban earlier in September.

Anti-trans activist Chris Elston, joined by his supporters, demonstrates against "gender affirmation" treatments and surgeries on minors, outside of Boston Children's Hospital in Boston on Sept. 18, 2022. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Louisiana banned certain transgender procedures for minors under the age of 18 in July after lawmakers overturned the Democratic governor’s veto of a bill prohibiting such activities.

Gender transition procedures come with numerous health risks, such as mental health problems, glandular misfunction, heart failure, and even death.

In May, lawmakers demanded answers after two youths involved in a transgender hormone study funded by the National Institutes of Health ended up committing suicide. In addition, 11 participants reported having suicidal thoughts.

In an interview with NTD’s “British Thought Leaders” in June, James Esses, a commentator and co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, said “there’s nothing natural about disrupting somebody’s puberty.”

Pro-trans activists insist that the effects of puberty blockers are “reversible,” but Mr. Esses called such claims “utter nonsense.”

“Studies show that they have an impact on brain development and bone growth,” Mr. Esses said. Regarding trans surgical procedures, he said, “we’re literally removing completely healthy parts of young people’s bodies that they can never get back again.”

According to estimates by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, 1.6 million people aged 13 and older identified as transgender in the United States as of June last year. This included about 300,000 people between the ages of 13 and 17.