As the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday began oral arguments in a challenge to a Tennessee law banning trans treatments such as puberty blockers and hormones for people under age 18, various pro-transgender groups have weighed in on the matter.
Interestingly, while it seems way out of their wheelhouse, three gun-ban groups have also become involved in the case, filing an amicus brief in support of the federal government’s challenge to a lower court ruling affirming the law. Brady, Giffords Law Center and March for Our Lives—all groups usually focused on imposing stricter gun laws on Americans—jumped into the transgender fray on Wednesday, distributing a news release explaining their activism.
Notably, while all three groups have long held a blame-the-gun view of mass murder and criminal violence—what they call “gun violence”—they’re now scrambling to point out the importance of mental health as it relates to gun violence and suicide.
“As Justice Sotomayor highlighted at today’s oral argument, this case is a grim reminder of the devastating impacts this heinous piece of legislation would have on the mental and physical wellbeing of transgender youth—heightening the risk of gun violence for young people in Tennessee,” Shira Feldman, Brady’s director of constitutional litigation, said in the release. “Brady is committed to addressing the core drivers of gun violence through a public health approach. That starts with protecting the dignity, freedom, and mental well-being of Tennessee’s young people—a simple act that we know can reduce the risk of gun violence—just as much as other policies like enhanced background checks and extreme risk laws.”
Billy Clark, senior litigation attorney at Giffords Law Center, chimed in with some similar reasoning.
“Laws that deny gender-affirming medical care endanger youth and put them at risk of suffering from gun violence, including suicide,” Clark said. “At oral argument today, Justice Sotomayor highlighted this suffering with examples of the harm children may suffer when denied this medical care. We urge the Justices to support trans youth and to strike down bans on gender-affirming medical care.”
Sarayu Bethamcherla, judicial advocacy associate for March for Our Lives, also made a similar point.
“The Supreme Court is hearing today a case on whether to withhold lifesaving medical care to children,” Bethamcherla said. “It’s that simple. When people receive gender-affirming care, the likelihood that they attempt suicide drops dramatically.”
Opponents of the law before the Supreme Court like to describe it as banning life-saving medical care, yet the law actually only bans transition-related treatments for children who are not yet legal adults. Neither the Tennessee law—nor the impending Supreme Court decision—have anything to do with such treatments for legal adults 18 years of age and older.
While the real reason the gun-ban groups have suddenly weighed in so heavily on the trans issue is not certain (I conjecture it has to do with future funding and appearance of wokeness), one thing is very interesting about Wednesday’s input from the groups. Apparently, they are finally in agreement with our side of the Second Amendment debate on the fact that guns don’t cause criminal violence and suicide—mental illness plays a role. It will be interesting to see if that reshapes their anti-gun arguments in any way moving forward.
Read the full article here
