Yesterday evening, the Sixth Circuit issued a blockbuster decision in consolidated cases addressing the constitutionality of Tennessee's and Kentucky's laws limiting minors experiencing gender dysphoria from certain sex-transition treatments. Chief Judge Sutton wrote the majority opinion, which Judge Thapar joined. Judge White dissented. The majority and dissenting opinions cumulatively span over 70 pages.
Individuals who have gender dysphoria experience a "lack of alignment between their biological sex and perceived gender." Majority Op. at 4. The Tennessee and Kentucky laws are concerned with the types of medical procedures that healthcare providers might prescribe minors suffering from gender dysphoria. Under both States' laws, medical providers are generally banned from performing sex-transition surgeries for such minors. Medical providers likewise cannot administer puberty-blocking hormones for such minors.
This decision is not the first that this Panel has issued in these cases. After the District Court in the Tennessee case issued a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Tennessee law, Tennessee appealed and the Panel ' the same one that issued yesterday's decision ' stayed the injunction...
