U.S. Supreme Court to hear case on gender-affirming health care for trans minors

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SCOTUS TO HEAR CASE ON TRANS YOUTH HEALTH CARE

Via Gillian Brassil

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge to a Tennessee law that bars gender-affirming for minors amid a national Republican movement to curb transgender rights.

It’s the first time the nation’s highest court will consider these types of state bans, which have sharply risen in GOP-led states. Several states with Republican leadership have instituted or tried to institute similar measures.

As Republican-led states have restricted LGBTQ rights — from drag shows to sports participation to bathroom usage — Democratic-led states have moved to expand them. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers have declared California a refuge for transgender children seeking gender-affirming care.

Nationwide, federal courts have disagreed on state laws targeting health care for transgender health care, adding pressure for the Supreme Court to consider this case.

The case, United States v. Skrmetti, concerns a Tennessee law that bars three types of medical care for transgender minors: puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgery. Justices agreed on Monday to hear the case next term, which typically begins in early October, but did not take up a similar appeal that originated in Kentucky.

The Tennessee case got its start in 2022 when state legislators introduced a bill to outlaw gender-affirming care for minors. It went into effect in July 2023. The American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations sued Tennessee on behalf of several families and a doctor.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Tennessee law that month while another court battle occurred over a similar ban in Kentucky. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit overturned the rulings, allowing the laws to go into effect.

The Biden administration and other organizations urged the Supreme Court to intervene. Lawyers for the Biden administration argued that the law violates the right to equal protection under the 14th Amendment because it bases bans on care around gender identity.

Tennessee’s attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti, argued this and other states’ bans were necessary due to a sharp rise in children with gender dysphoria, the condition in which someone’s gender expression does not match their gender identity or biological sex.

He and other attorneys for the state argued in a Supreme Court brief against allowing these treatments for children at an age when they might not understand the extent and longevity of results and complications from “potentially irreversible sex-transition interventions of uncertain benefit.”

SOCAL SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT WHO CALLED HARVEY MILK A ‘PEDOPHILE’ OUSTED

Voters in Riverside County recalled Temecula Valley Unified School District board president Joseph Komrosky in a June 4 special election after comments he made about California gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, and his overfall fanning the flames of California’s culture wars. The election results were finalized June 20.

Komrosky was elected in 2022, and used his tenure on the Christian-conservative leaning school board to institute a controversial parental notification policy that LGBTQ advocates call a “forced outing” policy that targets trans students. He also voted to ban the presence of any flags other than the U.S. and state flags on school campuses, and to reject California’s social studies curriculum, which is when he made the derogatory comment about Milk.

“Why even mention a pedophile?” Komrosky said about California’s at the June 2023 board meeting, prompting a response from Newsom, who called him an “ignorant person” and threatened to hit the district with a $1.5 million fine.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown signed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act in 2011, which requires elementary schools to teach students LGBTQ history, including lessons about important civil rights pioneers like Milk. Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to a public office in the state.

Komrosky lost his recall election by a 51% margin — around just 200 votes — and told the L.A. Times that he intends to run again this fall to reclaim his seat.

“Given the narrow margin,” he said, “I will likely run again in the November 2024 general election.”

BUDGET WILL COVER CA STATE PARK ACCESS FOR LIBRARY CARDHOLDERS

Via Nicole Nixon

Fans of nature and libraries, rejoice.

A program that allows library cardholders all over California to check out passes for free entry to over 200 California state parks and beaches will be funded under a budget agreement struck Saturday.

Newsom had proposed cutting the program to help fill a roughly $47 billion budget deficit. But after intense lobbying from state parks enthusiasts and librarians, the budget deal includes $6.75 million to continue the program for another year.

Libraries across the state have about 33,000 park passes and say they are among the most popular items for checkout.

Data collected by the nonprofit California State Parks Foundation found that the passes were used mostly by lower-income families and people of color, groups that have historically faced barriers to accessing the outdoors, said executive director Rachel Norton.

“Admission fees or parking charges can be financially burdensome for many residents, particularly those with lower incomes,” she said. “The cost of entry can deter people from experiencing the natural wonders within these parks, thereby excluding them from the numerous physical and mental health benefits, educational opportunities, and recreational activities that these spaces offer.”

Norton said she was “thrilled” to learn Saturday that the program would be included in this year’s budget. Her organization collected over 5,000 emails from parks lovers to their state lawmakers to try to fund it.

“We knew that the governor really cares about this program and State Parks really cares about this program,” she said in an interview. “There was a lot of goodwill and momentum to try to find a way to save it.”

The budget includes just one year of funding, but Norton said there are discussions about potential long-term funding solutions for the program.

STATE OF THE STATE: HOW TO WATCH

Gov. Gavin Newsom will release his much-awaited State of the State address today at 10 a.m. after the Legislature receives a copy of the speech. Newsom will broadcast the pre-recorded speech across the Office of the Governor’s social media channels on X, formerly known as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, as well as the office’s website. It will also be available to TV stations on the LiveU Matrix under “California Governor.”

Best of The Bee:

• California lawmakers fold in budget spat, approve Gavin Newsom’s $400M loan to Diablo Canyon, via Ari Plachta

• California Democrats to spend millions on Black reparations programs in budget agreement, via Stephen Hobbs

• Gavin Newsom is on political defense. Why it’s pushing him to do a video State of the State, via Lindsey Holden

• Another Folsom police officer is suing the city. Here’s what he’s accusing the department of, via Mathew Miranda