First Openly Trans Lawyer to Argue Before Supreme Court

An ACLU attorney will soon make history as the first openly transgender lawyer to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Chase Strangio, 41, will go before the Supreme Court on Dec. 4 representing a group of transgender minors, their parents and a doctor who have filed a lawsuit against Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, as reported by Bloomberg Law.

Strangio, the co-director of the ACLU's LGBTQ & HIV Project, will also share time with the Biden administration, who is seeking to have the ban labeled as unconstitutional, CNN reported.

Strangio has worked on a variety of cases involving LGBTQ+ issues, including the monumental 2015 ruling which approved the right to same-sex marriage. He has worked with the ACLU since 2013.

Tennessee's law, which has been in effect since last year, bars minors from receiving gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy and punishes medical providers if they administer the treatments.

Those in support of the ban have asserted the treatments as potentially harmful and advocate for parents to have more control of their child's healthcare. Supporters maintain that its effectiveness has been studied and that it can help those who suffer from gender dysphoria often experience a higher rate of suicide, as reported by Reuters.

The Biden administration appealed to have the case taken to the Supreme Court after a U.S. District Court's decision reinstated the ban in 2023. A federal judge had previously ruled that the ban violated the 14th Amendment.

Tennessee is one of 22 states that have similar bans in effect.