Washington, D.C. — In a deeply troubling 6–3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth. Even as transgender Americans face widespread discrimination, stigma, and violence, the Court refused to treat anti-trans laws with heightened constitutional suspicion.
American Atheists, a national civil rights organization, says the Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti is a dangerous assault on equal protection, personal autonomy, and evidence-based policy that will empower Christian Nationalist state legislators to continue targeting LGBTQ+ Americans, particularly trans young people and their families, with minimal legal scrutiny.
“For this Court to say that a law banning gender-affirming care is not making distinctions based on sex is the height of absurdity,” said Geoffrey T. Blackwell, Legal Director for American Atheists. “Justice Roberts and the other ultra-conservatives on the Court are not only continuing their detachment from reason and reality but dragging the rest of us along with them.”
By endorsing a law that rejects decades of scientific evidence and expert medical consensus, the Court has abandoned its duty to protect the rights and freedoms of vulnerable individuals from political overreach. Justice Clarence Thomas, in particular, argued that “elite sentiment” and “so-called experts” should not override ideologically driven or religiously motivated legislation.
American Atheists warns today’s decision not only immediately threatens the well-being of transgender youth and invades their families’ private health care decisions, but also opens the door to broader political interference in medical care for all Americans.
“Science is clear: gender-affirming care saves lives. It is supported by every major medical and psychological association in the country,” said Nick Fish, President of American Atheists. “And yet, this decision will encourage lawmakers across the country to introduce and enact harmful legislation that dictates who can receive what type of care, further endangering all Americans’ access to evidence-based health care and opening the door to broader, ideologically driven restrictions on our personal freedoms.”
“This ruling is not only a major loss for the LGBTQ+ community but to anyone — religious or not — who believes our laws should be based on facts and freedom for all, not the faith and fears of a few,” added Fish. “To all those impacted by today’s ruling: We see you, we support you, and we will never stop fighting for your right to live free, full, and authentic lives free from religious hate, pseudoscientific bigotry, and state-sponsored discrimination.”
