The San Diego LGBT Community Center strongly condemns the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in United States vs. Skrmetti, which upholds Tennessee’s ban on access to healthcare for transgender and nonbinary youth.

This ruling is part of an ongoing pattern of political attacks on the rights of transgender and nonbinary youth, their families, and the healthcare systems that support them—attacks rooted in lies, misinformation, and discrimination.

Every major medical organization—including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychiatric Association—supports access to age-appropriate, gender-affirming care, which is evidence-based, lifesaving, and guided by medical professionals in partnership with families. It is not new, and it is not experimental, despite the Trump administration’s narratives about its safety and efficacy. Accessing any form of healthcare should be a private, personal decision made between parents and their children and between patients and their doctors – not the government.

This Supreme Court ruling is not about protecting children. It is about using trans and nonbinary youth as political pawns and subjecting them to bigoted, ignorant attacks that put them at even greater risk of harm.

 State protections around access to gender-affirming care, like those in California and many other states, remain in effect unless separately challenged. Although this ruling does not uphold a federal ban or other anti-trans laws at the state or federal level, these attacks on our community’s rights in any state are felt everywhere.

At The Center, we remain committed to supporting our trans and nonbinary community members. Through our Project TRANS program, we offer peer-led support and discussion groups, referrals, and connections to affirming healthcare providers, including mental health services.

We will not be silent. We will not back down. We will continue to fight for a world where all trans and nonbinary people can live with dignity and pride.