NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday they filed a complaint challenging a Tennessee law that effectively bans transgender youth from getting some kinds of gender-affirming care.
They said the law "denies necessary medical care to youth based solely on who they are." The complaint argues that the ban violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, and asked the court to issue an immediate order preventing the law from going into effect on July 1.
The American Civil Liberties Union also previously announced that they were suing Tennessee over the law on behalf of three families and a Memphis-based medical doctor who provides gender-affirming care.
SB 0001 was signed on March 2, which bans forms of gender-affirming care for transgender minors. These forms of care — such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery — could be used to help adolescents with gender dysphoria.
Both the ACLU and DOJ argued that Tennessee's law specifically targets transgender youth since it explicitly does not allow the procedures for the purpose of helping treat distress as a result of their gender identity and gender expression.
"By denying only transgender youth access to these forms of medically necessary care while allowing non-transgender minors access to the same or similar procedures, SB 1 discriminates against transgender youth," the DOJ says in a press release.
The lawsuit says the Tennessee law specifically excludes "gender dysphoria and related conditions" from its definition of disease, meaning transgender youth suffering from it would not be able to access the kinds of care they may need.
"The law thus discriminates against transgender minors by unjustifiably denying them access to certain forms of medically necessary care to treat a diagnosis of gender dysphoria," the DOJ's complaint says.
According to the Endocrine Society Guideline, adolescents are only eligible for puberty-delaying treatment if a mental health professional confirms several aspects of a patient's health, including that the adolescent has a long-lasting pattern of gender dysphoria, it worsened with the onset of puberty and they have sufficient "mental capacity" to consent to the treatment.
Providers also need to follow similar guidelines when deciding if a transgender adolescent is eligible for gender-affirming hormone therapy.
The DOJ said that on March 31, 2022, Assistant Attorney General Clarke issued a letter to all state attorneys general reminding them of federal constitutional and statutory provisions that protect transgender youth.
"People who are transgender are frequently vulnerable to discrimination in many aspects of their lives, and are often victims of targeted threats, legal restrictions, and anti-transgender violence," it says. "The Department and the federal government more generally have a strong interest in protecting the constitutional rights of individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, nonbinary, or otherwise gender-nonconforming, and in ensuring compliance with federal civil rights statutes."