Are Transgender Civil Rights Under Attack? A Look Back at the Past Week

A Tough Week for Transgender Students and Families

After years of attacks on rights of transgender students, this past week has seen an onslaught of anti-transgender media, court cases, and federal and state activity. For parents of transgender students, transgender students, and the transgender community, it is just too much. They are exhausted, so all allies need to continue to step up to fight alongside them against such attacks.

“Children's well-being now, ability to live life without scarred spirits, and their very lives are at stake.”   - Robert Rigby

Since last Wednesday, we have seen almost  nonstop attacks on the rights of transgender students to exist. Here is a timeline: 

1. December 4: Opening arguments began in the US v. Skrmetti Supreme Court case where the state of Tennessee is trying to eliminate gender affirming care for transgender children, despite parental consent and doctor’s approval.

2. December 6: A Fairfax Circuit Court hearing on Jane Doe v. FCSB where America First Legal argued a religious objection on behalf of the children of a West Springfield parent, Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, against pronoun and bathroom policies in Fairfax County.

3. December 9: Yet another Federalist opinion piece was published attacking transgender civil rights and transgender allies by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, Independent Women’s Network (IWN) Fairfax Chapter Lead.

4. December 10: Trump nominated known transphobic election denier Harmeet Dillon as the Assistant Attorney General (AG) in charge of the civil rights division in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

5. December 10: Chesterfield County School Board undermined the safety of transgender students through a controversial policy revision.

6. December 11: A vote was passed in the House on a Republican-amended military budget bill that will ban gender affirming care for military family children.

Below, I will cover these attacks on the rights of transgender students to exist in life and public school; however, before doing so, I would like to remind everyone of some successes in the past week. Although we will need to continue the fight for LGBTQIA+ civil rights and the right of transgender people to exist, we also need to celebrate our successes: Prattville Pride won an injunction to permit them to participate in the Prattville annual Christmas parade, Montana Supreme Court blocked a ban on healthcare for transgender youth, the U.S. Supreme Court turned away a Wisconsin case against transgender students, and local group, Transgender Education Association won an award for their advocacy.

Click on the arrows below to read more about about this rough week of attacks on transgender civil rights. 

1. Gender Affirming Care under Fire at the Supreme Court (L.W. v. Skrmetti)

On December 4th, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) began hearing oral arguments in the case of L.W. v. Skrmetti, to determine whether Tennessee Senate Bill 1 prohibiting gender-affirming care for minors violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Tennessee, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP brought the lawsuit on behalf of a 16-year-old transgender girl, her parents, two other plaintiff families, and a Memphis-based physician. 

Glorious but cold day for Supreme Court rally

Lambda Legal described the case as whether “transgender minors in Tennessee can access the same medical care that is commonly provided to non transgender minors and whether their families can make healthcare decisions in consultation with their doctors without the interference of politicians.” The lawyers argued that the Tennessee law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution because it “unfairly discriminates against transgender youth by denying them the same care that is available to other youth, such as hormone therapy or puberty blockers.”

Lambda Legal noted two historic firsts associated with this case: the Solicitor General of the United States, Elizabeth Prelogar, also represented the interests of the transgender community, and this is the first case at the Supreme Court where parties are represented by an openly transgender lawyer, Chase Strangio, co-counsel from the ACLU.

I and other FCPS Pride board members attended the rally in support of the civil rights of transgender youth and their families. As you can see from the photos below, the Freedom to Be Ourselves rally was a glorious affair with music, rainbows, and people from all over the country who showed up in the extreme cold to support civil rights for transgender people. Straight, gay, trans, non-binary, and cis people of all races and religions rallied against the dark disinformation campaign from the sad, small affair with paid agitators and angry operatives screaming negativity and hate against parents and their children in our rally. The outcome of this case will have far reaching consequences. Over half of the states have banned hormone therapies for transgender youth, and far-right groups are targeting trans youth with coordinated disinformation campaigns and legal cases (see below). In Virginia, a negative SCOTUS decision would make school district defense of supportive transgender student policies more critical, but also more difficult.

Sign made by parents at the Free to Be Ourselves rally

2. Religious Objection to Using Pronouns and Bathroom Access (Jane Doe v. FCSB)

3. Nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to a Civil Rights Appointment

4. The Federalist Jumps the Shark with Transphobic Content

5. Restricting the Military Families’ Insurance Coverage

6. Chesterfield School Board Chooses Anti-Trans Policies

Anticipating 2025 and More Civil Rights Attacks

If the last couple of years of vicious attacks against transgender student rights have seemed rough, this will only intensify under the next presidential administration. With pressure, policy changes, and key appointments at the federal level, it will make it harder for school districts to hold their ground.

Additionally, it is known that changes at the federal level will create chaos which will make it harder for school administration and staff to know how vigorously to defend and support queer students and staff out of confusion and fear of retaliation.

Robert Rigby, longtime LGBTQIA activist and leader of FCPS Pride, anticipates that in the next year:

“Queer kids and staff are entering an automatically more hostile environment in any school. The burden will fall upon teachers and staff to stand by kids.”

He suggested that we continue with our advocacy for civil rights for our LGBTQIA+ students, families, staff, and community. We shouldn’t stop reminding our local school boards and superintendents via emails and conversations how important it is to support our vulnerable children during these challenging times.