First Openly Transgender Lawyer At Supreme Court

In December 2024, a landmark case will be making its way before the United States Supreme Court, arguing against Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors. This law prohibits doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to minors. A federal judge had previously blocked this law in Tennessee in 2023 on the grounds that it would likely violate the 14th Amendment. The Amendment grants all persons born in the United States equal protection under the laws [1]. 

However, this case is monumental because, for the first time in history, an openly transgender attorney will be arguing before the Supreme Court. Chase Strangio is a 41-year-old attorney who is an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing a group of transgender individuals who are challenging the measure that will prohibit medical treatment for minors who are experiencing gender dysphoria. Stangrio will be presenting the arguments for these plaintiffs who sued the state.

This is a significant moment in LGBTQ+  history as well as American history. As the ACLU Legal Director Cecillia Wang said in regards to Strangio being the leading legal expert on transgender rights, “He brings to the lectern not only brilliant constitutional lawyering but also the tenacity and heart of a civil rights champion.” [2]

Chase Strangio has been at the forefront of fighting for transgender rights throughout his career. He joined the ACLU in 2013 and has been the co-director of its LGBTQ & HIV Project. He’s helped the organization fight state laws that target transgender people, including high-profile cases like the case of Gavin Grimm. Grim was a young man who was excluded from using the restrooms in his high school simply because he was transgender. After four years of litigation, The U.S. The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the ruling in favor of Gavin on August 26, 2020. [3] 

Strangio will be making history with his role in this case, as well as his special interest in the conversation being held. He will be arguing against the state’s stance that Tennessee lawfully exercised its power to “regulate medicine by protecting minors from risky, unproven gender-transition interventions” [2] and representing the interests of several plaintiffs, including two transgender boys, a transgender girl and their parents on behalf of their happiness and wellbeing. 

Sources:

1. Landmark legislation: The Fourteenth Amendment, US Senate: Landmark Legislation:The Fourteenth Amendment. (2023), https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/14th-amendment.htm#:~:text=Passed by the Senate on,laws,” extending the provisions of (last visited Nov 12, 2024). 
2. Andrew Chung, “First Openly Transgender To Argue At US Supreme Court” Reuters (2024), https://www.reuters.com/legal/first-openly-transgender-lawyer-argue-us-supreme-court-2024-10-21/ (last visited Nov 12, 2024). 
3. Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, American Civil Liberties Union (2023), https://www.aclu.org/cases/grimm-v-gloucester-county-school-board (last visited Nov 12, 2024).