Supreme Court ruling affirms anti-trans laws affecting minors in Idaho
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors — a ruling that cements similar laws in more than 20 other states, including Idaho.
The Tennessee law, like Idaho’s, centers on medical care for transgender youth that addresses gender dysphoria, or feelings of distress when a person’s body or presentation doesn’t match their gender identity. Tennessee’s law bans hormone and puberty blocking medications, while Idaho’s also bans surgeries — despite doctors’ testimonies in the Idaho Legislature that they do not offer transition-related surgeries to minors.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the court’s decision that the plaintiffs in the Tennessee case — several transgender minors, their parents and a doctor — failed to make their case that the law discriminates against transgender youth based on their age and sex.
Roberts also dismissed the plaintiffs’ concerns that Tennessee is forcing children to live within gender stereotypes. Instead, Roberts praised the state’s lawmakers for what he said was their apparent concern for minors, citing the Legislature’s “stated interests in ‘encouraging minors to appreciate their sex’ and in prohibiting medical care ‘that might encourage minors to become disdainful of their sex.’”
In the 6-3 ruling — the court’s six conservative members in the majority — Roberts said Tennessee legislators expressed concerns about the safety of the treatments and the possibility of regretting gender-affirming care later in life. Idaho lawmakers have raised similar arguments, but physicians and transgender people have repeatedly emphasized the importance of the treatment, which can greatly reduce instances of suicide and self-harm.
One Idaho physician noted that the rate of regret is higher for people who have knee replacement surgery.
Idaho’s ban, passed by lawmakers in 2023, was briefly blocked after a federal judge in Idaho questioned the law’s constitutionality following a lawsuit from the ACLU of Idaho and Wrest Collective. Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the ban to continue while litigation continued, and the court ruled in Labrador’s favor, resuming the ban in April 2024.
In a news release, the ACLU said the case was dismissed earlier this year when both plaintiff families moved out of state.
“Idaho has done what it set out to do — drive out transgender people who don’t want to tolerate the unnecessary hostility toward them,” said Jenna Damron, ACLU of Idaho Advocacy Fellow, in the news release. “I wish I could say this ruling is surprising, but I’m not surprised.
“Still, I want every trans kid out there to know: You are loved. You are worthy,” Damron continued. “And we will keep fighting for you, no matter what this court says.”
The Idaho Statesman reached out to Labrador’s office for comment and did not receive an immediate response.
The ruling has already been celebrated by the Idaho Family Policy Center, a Christian advocacy group that said it “drafted and championed” the Idaho law.
The ACLU of Idaho noted it has two pending legal cases against Idaho officials over transgender rights issues: Hecox v. Little, which addresses bans on transgender athletes, and Robinson v. Labrador, which addresses gender-affirming medical care for prisoners.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 11:29 AM.
