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SCOTUS on Trans Kids: Thomas Gets Way Weirder than Roberts
Thomas says doctors’ medical recommendations are merely ‘elite sentiment…under the guise of scientific judgment’
Yesterday, when the U.S. Supreme Court released its ruling (PDF) in the case over trans kids’ gender-affirming healthcare (U.S. v. Skrmetti), I described Justice Roberts’s opinion written on behalf of the majority.
His definitions reveal a chicken-and-egg problem of whether the kid is already trans because they want to transition or (alternatively) it’s their transition that makes them trans; any ambiguous definition of trans implies to him that it’s impossible to discriminate against a person for being trans, and hence it’s OK for states to ban trans people’s healthcare; he says there are increasing numbers of trans kids but no data about them; and the health risks of gender-affirming hormones are gravely serious and yet completely unknown.
The not-so-hidden point of it, it seems to me, is to lay groundwork for banning trans adults’ access to hormones and surgeries and even to encourage conversion therapy to try to change adults’ gender identities.
Justice Thomas agrees “in full” with that, but he adds some of his thoughts separately. His concurring opinion is even viler than…
