Leah Litman, The Archaic Sex-Discrimination Case the Supreme Court Is Reviving, Atlantic
The Supreme Court’s decision last week in United States v. Skrmetti will have direct consequences for many transgender minors. Tennessee’s law, which the Court upheld, prohibits people under age 18 from accessing certain kinds of treatment, such as hormones and puberty blockers, to treat gender dysphoria (the condition in which an individual’s sex does not align with their gender identity). But the consequences will be indirect as well, and reach beyond the realm of transgender rights—potentially representing a setback for gender equality and the enforcement of antidiscrimination law.
The majority opinion, written by Chief Justice John Roberts and joined by the five other Republican appointees, revives an outdated case, Geduldig v. Aiello, that blessed discrimination based on archaic thinking. If the Republican appointees plan to revive this older case, they will take the law and the country back to a time when the government used the existence of “biological differences” between men and women to excuse all kinds of discrimination against women. The Court’s logic underscores the extent to which the ideology and methodology of the conservative justices threaten many of the hard-fought civil-rights protections of the 20th century.