NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit in hopes of blocking Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal on behalf of a Nashville 15-year-old and two anonymous families.
Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed and Gov. Bill Lee signed legislation banning doctors from providing care such as puberty blockers, hormone treatment, or gender-affirming surgeries to minors for treatment of gender dysphoria.
“The attack that Tennessee legislators and the governor have launched against transgender youth and their families and providers is stunning in its cruelty,” Sruti Swaminathan, staff attorney for youth at Lambda Legal, said in a release. “They are actively ignoring the science, dismissing best-practice medical care, intervening in a parent’s right to care for and love their child, and explicitly exposing trans youth in Tennessee to rampant discrimination. This law is not just harmful and cruel, it is life-threatening.”
The law is set to go into effect on July 1.
