Doogie Howser: A Case Study on the Tennessee Sex-Affirming Treatment for a Transgender Child in a Family

That fear was reinforced as I entered the legal profession. In 2007, one of my professors told our class that they needed to follow traditional gender rules in court. She wanted women to wear skirts to appearance before juries, but told me that I was too soft spoken to be an effective male advocate. I found my appearance to be a subject of mockery in class. During an internship at a public defender’s office in New York City, some court officers and judges referred to me as “Doogie Howser” and asked my supervisors if it was take your kid to work day. I was thought to be too boyish to be a woman or an adult man. I got a job interview and found out that staff members were wondering if I would be taken seriously in court. Fearing my gender would be a distraction and that my future clients would pay the price, I stayed away from the courtroom for years after graduation.

Front and center at the Supreme Court on Wednesday is the battle over the rights of transgender children. Tennessee has a law that blocks children from accessing gender-affirming care.

It took nearly a year for LW to get the go ahead, but LW’s mom says that at 15, her once troubled child is an easy and happy teenager, now that she is getting access to treatments for gender dysphoria. Due to the fact that the family lives in Tennessee, it is not possible for them to get the drugs for the transition in a timely manner.

Those challenging the Tennessee law claim that the ban is unconstitutional. When it comes to treating kids who want to change their sex at birth but are not allowed by the law, the same medications can be used if the kid is suffering from other conditions.

Strangio says that the language of the statute telegraphs the real purpose of the ban. Specifically, the statute encourages minors to “appreciate their sex” and bans treatments that “might encourage minors to be disdainful of their sex.”

What are the implications of laws banning gender-affirming medical care for trans kids? – Sen. John Bursch of Alliance Defending Freedom

“You’ve got countries in Western Europe that were far ahead of us in terms of these types of medications,” says Sen. Johnson. “They are pulling back because they’ve had a longer runway, and they’re seeing that the adverse effects of some of these medications far outweigh any benefit that they have.”

John Bursch of the conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom echoes that sentiment, noting that some Western European and Scandinavian countries have not only been at this longer, they have national health care systems that cover everyone.

From the time of birth to the time of death, they can track a patient. And so if someone gets cross-sex hormones for the purpose of a gender change at age 15, they can look at how they’re doing at age 20,25, 45 65 and see what the outcomes were,” Bursch notes.

These characterizations of European studies are highly controversial, but the drugs are still accessible in a research setting, and access has not been terminated for any minor already using the medications.

There is much about this issue that remains in dispute. To take just one example, parents Samantha and Brian Williams maintain that the law not only bans treatments, it bars parents and children from even consulting doctors about these treatments. The law’s supporters deny that claim to varying degrees. Sen. Johnson says that the “legislative intent does not prohibit or prevent any type of conversation.” Bursch says that if the doctor wasn’t encouraging someone to engage in an illegal procedure, a family could have a discussion about puberty blockers and hormone treatment.

Vanderbilt does still provide gender-affirming care for adult patients. Lawyers for the trans kids want to see if states can ban gender dysphoria treatments for adult’s as the next step.

Source: Supreme Court hears challenge to law banning gender-affirming care for trans kids

Do We Need It, or Did You Just Know It Was Already Late? Some Remarks on the Phenomenology of Dark Matter Spectroscopy

“People make assumptions. They say that it’s just a phase because they aren’t used to it. “It can certainly feel pretty hopeless,” especially given “how slow” the process is.