Dear John,

The Fight Continues:Rally today the Supreme Court for Trans Youth health care.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti, allowing Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth to stand. This ruling endangers the lives of trans young people by ignoring decades of medical research and the lived experiences of those most impacted.

We believe it should be simple: every young person deserves access to health care that supports their ability to live, thrive, and grow up healthy and whole. Instead, the Court has sided with political extremism over the rights and well-being of young people.

Barriers to health care harm all of us, but they fall hardest on trans youth, especially trans youth of color. No young person should be forced to cross state lines just to receive basic medical care. No young person should be pushed into a future they did not choose.

Advocates remains committed to building a world where every young person has the freedom to make decisions about their body, free from fear and obstruction. Trans youth deserve joy, safety, and power, and we will continue to fight alongside them to ensure they have it.

As Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dissent:

“By retreating from meaningful judicial review exactly where it matters most, the Court abandons transgender children and their families to political whims.”

But we are not backing down. As Chase Strangio, a lead lawyer on the case, reminded us that this moment, like so many before it, is not the end of the road, but a reason to fight harder:

“No Court ruling will deter our fight.
We have lost many times before and built beautiful, transformative movements in the wreckage.
Now is a moment of solidarity, of care, of fighting.
The Court got it wrong, but they left open many avenues—both doctrinal and extra-legal—for us to fight.
And regardless of what they say, we map the contours of our future.”

Join a coalition of activists at the Supreme Court TODAY 6/18 AT 3PM, and be on the lookout for more opportunities like this one:

In Solidarity,
Mo Shora