Ohio LGBTQ+ orgs react to SCOTUS decision to uphold ban on gender-affirming care for minors

Editor’s Note: The story was updated to include a statement from ACLU of Ohio on their ongoing litigation against Ohio’s HB 68.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors in a 6-3 decision on Wednesday. Organizations around Ohio that support transgender rights condemned the ruling, with many calling it discriminatory and inconsistent with the Court’s Title VII ruling in 2020.

According to the Associated Press, Chief Justice John Roberts said in the majority opinion that Tennessee’s law does not violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

Despite the decision on U.S. v. Skrmetti, ACLU of Ohio Chief Legal Officer Freda Levenson said the case against Ohio’s HB 68 – which bans gender-affirming care for minors and restricts trans girls participation in sports – will proceed.

“Our case raises separate constitutional claims under the Ohio Constitution,” Levenson said in a statement. “We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure transgender children and their families have the ability to live freely and thrive.”

Major medical associations such as the American Psychological Association and the American Medical Association have supported gender-affirming care. After banning gender-affirming care, the Utah legislature commissioned a report that found that the care “generated ‘positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes.’”

Equality Ohio released a statement saying the ruling “will have a significant impact on trans rights and legal precedents across the country.”

“This ruling is a loss, but it will not stop us,” said Executive Director Dwayne Steward. “We will keep showing up for our youth. No court can erase us, and no law can silence the truth that trans people belong and deserve care.”

Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio, called the ruling a “betrayal of the constitutional promise of equal protection.”

“This ruling gives a green light to discriminatory laws that deny care, sow fear and force families to make heartbreaking choices,” Adkison said in a release.

LOVEboldly Executive Director Ben Huelskamp said the decision was ideological and exclusive.

“It will continue to tell Trans youth that their is something wrong with being who God created them to be,” he said. “Jesus told us to love our neighbors as ourselves—not to legislate them out of existence.”

Equitas Health found the ruling to stand “in stark opposition to the historical application of the Equal Protection Clause.” President and CEO David Munar cited a study from The Trevor Project that anti-trans laws increase suicidality among trans and non-binary youth up to 72%.

“Tennessee’s law and other bans on medically necessary care for trans youth are not just discriminatory,” Munar said. “They’re deadly.” 

GLAD Law Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights Jennifer Levi wrote that the Supreme Court “today failed to do its job.”

“When the political system breaks down and legislatures bow to popular hostility, the judiciary must be the Constitution’s backbone,” Levi said in a release. “Instead, it chose to look away, abandoning both vulnerable children and the parents who love them.”

The decision “abandons transgender youth and their families to political attacks,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights.

“It ignored clear discrimination and disregarded its own legal precedent by letting lawmakers target young people for being transgender,” Minter said in a release.

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson called the ruling “devastating.” Robinson criticized the rational basis scrutiny that the Court promoted, which could add additional legal hurdles to future court battles around transgender discrimination.

“This Court chose to allow politicians to interfere in medical decisions that should be made by doctors, patients, and families—a cruel betrayal of the children who needed them to stand up for justice when it mattered most,” Robinson said. 🔥

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IGNITE ACTION

• The Buckeye Flame’s Ohio LGBTQ+ legislation guide for 2025 can be found here.
• To register to vote or to check your voter eligibility status in the state of Ohio, click here.
• To find contact information for your Ohio state representative, click here.
• To find contact information for your Ohio senator, click here.
• If you are a young LGBTQ+ person in crisis, please contact the Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor.
• If you are an transgender adult in need of immediate help, contact the National Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860