This morning, the United States Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s Senate Bill 1, which prohibits so-called gender transition drugs or surgeries for minors. In United States v. Skrmetti, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Tennessee’s law does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as claimed by the plaintiffs. The lawsuit was brought by three self-described transgender minors, a parent, and a doctor, who argued the law was unconstitutional.
The three liberal justices—Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson—dissented, claiming the ban discriminates against transgender people as a class.
But that wasn’t the only child protection news today. In 2023, the Idaho Legislature passed House Bill 71, the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, which similarly banned hormones, drugs, and surgeries intended to alter a minor’s physical characteristics to resemble those of the opposite sex.
Shortly after the session ended, activists from the American Civil Liberties Union found two minors undergoing procedures to change their sex characteristics and sued to block the law in a case that became known as Labrador v. Poe. A district judge initially blocked the entire law from taking effect statewide. However, a year later, the Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect while permitting the plaintiffs to continue their own procedures.
The plaintiffs have since moved to dismiss the case entirely, and that order was granted earlier today. The Supreme Court’s decision in Skrmetti makes it unlikely that any further legal challenges to Idaho’s law will succeed.
Chloe Cole, a young woman who underwent a double mastectomy at age 15 as part of her attempted transition to a boy, shared her story with Idaho lawmakers during the 2023 debate on H71. Credit goes to the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) for bringing Cole to Boise—her testimony likely turned the tide in favor of the bill.
Cole reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision earlier today on Twitter:
The highest court in the land ruled that there is, in fact, no such thing as a transgender child.
I’m still in shock.
She posted again a few minutes later:
WE DID IT! 🎉
Moments ago the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s child-protection law in Skrmetti, 6 to 3. My heart is overflowing with gratitude. Every child in America is now safer.
Thank you to The State of Tennessee, the parents who never backed down, and every detransitioner who shared the truth. This victory is ours!
Blaine Conzatti, president of the Idaho Family Policy Center which helped draft H71, issued a statement via a press release:
We celebrate the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Tennessee state law protecting children struggling with gender dysphoria.
State legislatures across the country are reviewing the data and coming to the conclusion that it’s time to ban mutilating sex change drugs and surgeries for gender-confused children.
The evidence is clear: these so-called ‘gender-affirming treatments’ wreak havoc on developing bodies. Laws like these are necessary to protect gender-confused children from medically unnecessary drugs and procedures that result in lifelong harms.
Attorney General Raúl Labrador also reacted on Twitter:
Idaho was among the first states to pass a law protecting children from these dangerous procedures, and my office has been defending it in court ever since.
Today’s common-sense ruling by the Supreme Court protects children from these dangerous and irreversible procedures.
Additionally, Labrador commented on the dismissal of Idaho’s case today:
No one has the right to harm children. For two years, my office defended Idaho’s common-sense law that protects kids from experimental procedures with lifelong, irreversible consequences.
Idaho’s Vulnerable Child Protection Act recognizes that children suffering from gender dysphoria need love, support, and medical care rooted in biological reality—not life-altering drugs and surgeries. With this lawsuit now dismissed, Idaho can fully enforce our law protecting children, families, and biological reality.
Today is a great reminder of how important it is for good people to be involved in the political process. It’s too easy—even for some Republicans—to dismiss these issues as meaningless “culture wars,” a distraction from so-called kitchen-table politics. Some even argue that families and doctors should be free to make these decisions without interference.
Yet this issue is of the utmost importance. Consider Chloe Cole, and the thousands of other young people who irreversibly damage their bodies in the name of a lie. Consider the many more we never hear about, who spiral into depression, substance abuse, and even suicide trying to fix what has been broken.
I am thankful for Chloe Cole, who has used her painful experience to save many others from the same fate. I am thankful to IFF for bringing her here to tell her story in person. I am thankful for Rep. Bruce Skaug, who carried H71, and for Attorney General Labrador, who has defended it every step of the way.
Today was a great victory for life and for children. Let’s celebrate, and then get back to work.
Feature image credit Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Gem State Chronicle is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and five children in Eagle.
