US Supreme Court to review LGBTQ-related cases in 2024-25 session

By Lisa Keen, Keen News Service

The U.S. Supreme Court opened its 2024-25 session on October 7 with at least 10 LGBTQ-related petitions before it. Seven of those petitions involve transgender issues: four ask whether states can limit a minor’s access to treatment for gender dysphoria, and three ask whether states can ban transgender females from participating in female sports competitions.

Of the 10 LGBTQ-related cases, the court has agreed to hear two cases and has refused to hear two others this session. Six others await disposition.

The Supreme Court announced on October 4 that it will review the Sixth Circuit’s ruling in a case in which a straight employee challenges lower court rulings that say she cannot sue under a law prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination. In another case, the court has taken up a case from Tennessee to decide whether states can ban minors from receiving treatment for gender dysphoria.

In the discrimination case, Ames v. Ohio, a straight female employee of the Ohio Department of Youth Services filed a lawsuit after two gay coworkers were chosen for positions she sought or held, and then she was demoted. Marlean Ames’ lawsuit claims she was the victim of sexual orientation discrimination. However, both the district court and a Sixth Circuit panel ruled against her, noting she offered “no evidence other than her own experience.” In her appeal, Ames’ attorneys argue that the Sixth Circuit and four other courts of appeals require majority-group plaintiffs to prove— in addition to the other elements of Title VII— “background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority.”

In June, the court indicated it would accept the Biden administration’s appeal of another Sixth Circuit decision: U.S. v. Tennessee (or, more formally, U.S. v. Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General for Tennessee).

The U.S. Department of Justice filed the appeal to the Supreme Court after the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the state of Tennessee could enforce a ban against medical treatment for gender dysphoria in any minor in the state. Specifically, noted the DOJ, the Tennessee law prohibits any treatment that would enable a minor to “identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex….” The law also prohibits any treatment for a minor’s “purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.”

Nineteen states have laws that bar treatment of minors for gender dysphoria. More than 50 transgender adults, including actor Elliot Page, filed a brief in support of the administration. Several LGBTQ legal organizations, including GLAD and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, submitted a brief in support of the U.S. government’s appeal. Members of Congress, including 11 senators and 153 members of the House, also submitted a brief in support of the government’s case.

The Supreme Court has not yet set dates for oral arguments in the two cases it has accepted.

In June, the court also refused to take up the appeals of two cases seeking to determine whether states can ban transgender females from participating in women’s and girls’ sports competitions (Department of Education v. Louisiana and Department of Education v. Tennessee).

Many other cases are still pending. In Mahmoud v. Montgomery County, three sets of parents have appealed a decision from the Fourth Circuit that held public schools are not required to allow parents to opt their children out of classroom books that discuss sexuality. The parents claimed this violated their right to free exercise of religion; however, the Fourth Circuit panel disagreed, stating that the parents were free to exercise their beliefs and teach their children whatever they wanted. The books that prompted the conflict were LGBTQ-inclusive storybooks for elementary school children. (Status: Montgomery County, Maryland, has until October 16 to file its brief in opposition to the parents’ petition for the high court to hear their appeal.)

Meanwhile, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has frequently criticized treatment for gender dysphoria in his campaign rallies. During his second visit to Butler, Pa., he rattled off a long list of improbable campaign promises, such as ensuring everyone can afford “groceries, a beautiful car, and a home,” building “a defense shield around our country,” and keeping “critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our schools.” After further remarks, Trump said, as president, he would “keep men out of women’s sports” because “it’s so demeaning to women.” He has also derided Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris for supporting the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

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