Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stirred the cauldron of constitutional discourse when she compared child sex-change bans to interracial marriage prohibitions. Jackson made the remarks during a hearing for United States v. Skrmetti, a case considering whether Tennessee’s law banning medical procedures intended to enable “minor[s] to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex,” violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. But comparing sex changes for trans kids to interracial marriage between consenting adults is intellectually dishonest. It’s an offense to the conscience.
As Fox News reported, the Tennessee law, enacted in 2023, prohibits medical interventions aimed at altering a minor’s biological sex to match a perceived gender identity. Its supporters argue the law safeguards children from irreversible medical decisions, while opponents claim it discriminates against transgender individuals.
During oral arguments, Justice Jackson brought up the Supreme Court’s landmark Loving v. Virginia decision. She likened Tennessee’s ban on child sex-change procedures to the Virginia ban on interracial marriage that Loving struck down in 1967.
Justice Jackson on Tennessee’s Trans Ban
“What was most interesting about the potential comparison to Loving is that in that case everyone seemed to concede up front that a racial classification was being drawn by the statute. That was sort of like the starting point,” Jackson said. “The question was whether it was discriminatory because it applied to both races and it wasn’t necessarily invidious or whatever.”
She noted that the Virginia law forbade marriages inconsistent with one’s own racial identity, questioning whether Tennessee’s restriction operates under a similar framework regarding sex and gender identity. […]
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