Latest news with #ChaseStrangio
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Heightened Scrutiny' details the high-stakes Supreme Court case over trans health care
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the next few weeks in a high-stakes case that could affect transgender people's access to transition-related care nationwide. The case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, concerns a law in Tennessee that prohibits certain care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and whether the restrictions are discriminatory on the basis of sex and transgender status. A new documentary, 'Heightened Scrutiny,' follows Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, as he represents trans youth, their families and a doctor who filed suit against the law in April 2023. Strangio became the first openly trans person to argue in front of the Supreme Court during oral arguments in December. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will show at NewFest, a queer film festival in New York, on May 29, and then at other film festivals across the country. The film's director, Sam Feder, said it is a follow-up to another documentary he directed called 'Disclosure,' which was released in 2020 and evaluated how trans people are depicted in film and television. 'The motivation to make that film was to explore how the rise in visibility could lead to backlash,' Feder said. 'I did not know it would be as terrifying as it is now.' 'Heightened Scrutiny' features interviews with trans activists including actress Laverne Cox, and with journalists including Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School and a writer for The New Yorker; Lydia Polgreen, a New York Times opinion columnist; and Gina Chua, one of the most high-profile trans media executives. Much of the documentary focuses on the effects of increasing media coverage, particularly from The New York Times, on minors' access to transition-related care. Julie Hollar, a senior analyst at the media watchdog group FAIR, says in the documentary that she evaluated the Times' front page coverage for 12 months, and during that time, she said, the Times 'actually published more front page articles that framed trans people, the trans movement, as a threat to others than they did articles about trans people being threatened by this political movement.' The New York Times did not respond to a request for comment. Amy Scholder, who produced both 'Heightened Scrutiny' and 'Disclosure,' said that while researching media coverage of trans people over the last few years, she was astonished by how quickly much of the public appeared to go from celebrating trans visibility after 'Disclosure' to questioning it. 'It was disconcerting how many avowed feminists were questioning health care for trans adolescents and questioning the participation of trans people in sports, and especially adolescents in sports — things that just seemed so against my understanding and experience of what it means to be a feminist,' she said. She compared the public response to laws targeting trans youth to what she experienced during the AIDS epidemic, when people distanced themselves from the crisis because they didn't think it affected them or didn't want it to. 'Then the irony is,' Feder said, 'people thought it didn't affect them, but you chip away at anyone's bodily autonomy and you're chipping away at everyone's bodily autonomy.' The documentary shows that media coverage that is critical of transition care for minors has been referenced by state legislators trying to pass laws to restrict the care, and by states that are defending those laws in court, with Strangio saying at one point during the film that he had never previously seen news articles referenced so regularly as evidence in lawsuits. Feder said the film was originally going to focus entirely on media coverage, but Strangio's story allowed them to show viewers the real-world consequences of that coverage. They followed Strangio from July, just after the Supreme Court announced that it would hear the Skrmetti case, to Dec. 4, the day Strangio argued the case. The film shows Strangio the day after the election, a month before his oral arguments at the high court, when he says he's 'had moments of 'I can't do this again,' but then I wake up this morning and I think, 'F--- it, we fight.'' 'That's part of what is so extraordinary about him — he has that fight in him,' Scholder said. 'He knows how to be strategic, and he's such a brilliant legal mind and has always reminded us that we're going to take care of each other, and that these laws, for better or worse, will never actually take care of us.' Feder said that going forward, he hopes the film provokes conversations about how laws restricting transition-related care could have widespread effects outside of the trans community. He also said he hopes people will 'examine and understand how they want to be able to make decisions about their own body.' 'We're seeing state after state ban abortion, and soon it's going to be all contraception, and then it's who are you going to be able to marry, do you have any privacy in your own home? It's going there. This is one example of how we are a moment of complete civil liberty freefall,' he said. This article was originally published on
NBC News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC News
'Heightened Scrutiny' details the high-stakes Supreme Court case over trans health care
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision in the next few weeks in a high-stakes case that could affect transgender people's access to transition-related care nationwide. The case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, concerns a law in Tennessee that prohibits certain care for minors, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, and whether the restrictions are discriminatory on the basis of sex and transgender status. A new documentary, 'Heightened Scrutiny,' follows Chase Strangio, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, as he represents trans youth, their families and a doctor who filed suit against the law in April 2023. Strangio became the first openly trans person to argue in front of the Supreme Court during oral arguments in December. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will show at NewFest, a queer film festival in New York, on May 29, and then at other film festivals across the country. The film's director, Sam Feder, said it is a follow-up to another documentary he directed called ' Disclosure,' which was released in 2020 and evaluated how trans people are depicted in film and television. 'The motivation to make that film was to explore how the rise in visibility could lead to backlash,' Feder said. 'I did not know it would be as terrifying as it is now.' 'Heightened Scrutiny' features interviews with trans activists including actress Laverne Cox, and with journalists including Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School and a writer for The New Yorker; Lydia Polgreen, a New York Times opinion columnist; and Gina Chua, one of the most high-profile trans media executives. Much of the documentary focuses on the effects of increasing media coverage, particularly from The New York Times, on minors' access to transition-related care. Julie Hollar, a senior analyst at the media watchdog group FAIR, says in the documentary that she evaluated the Times' front page coverage for 12 months, and during that time, she said, the Times 'actually published more front page articles that framed trans people, the trans movement, as a threat to others than they did articles about trans people being threatened by this political movement.' Amy Scholder, who produced both 'Heightened Scrutiny' and 'Disclosure,' said that while researching media coverage of trans people over the last few years, she was astonished by how quickly much of the public appeared to go from celebrating trans visibility after 'Disclosure' to questioning it. 'It was disconcerting how many avowed feminists were questioning health care for trans adolescents and questioning the participation of trans people in sports, and especially adolescents in sports — things that just seemed so against my understanding and experience of what it means to be a feminist,' she said. She compared the public response to laws targeting trans youth to what she experienced during the AIDS epidemic, when people distanced themselves from the crisis because they didn't think it affected them or didn't want it to. 'Then the irony is,' Feder said, 'people thought it didn't affect them, but you chip away at anyone's bodily autonomy and you're chipping away at everyone's bodily autonomy.' The documentary shows that media coverage that is critical of transition care for minors has been referenced by state legislators trying to pass laws to restrict the care, and by states that are defending those laws in court, with Strangio saying at one point during the film that he had never previously seen news articles referenced so regularly as evidence in lawsuits. Feder said the film was originally going to focus entirely on media coverage, but Strangio's story allowed them to show viewers the real-world consequences of that coverage. They followed Strangio from July, just after the Supreme Court announced that it would hear the Skrmetti case, to Dec. 4, the day Strangio argued the case. The film shows Strangio the day after the election, a month before his oral arguments at the high court, when he says he's 'had moments of 'I can't do this again,' but then I wake up this morning and I think, 'F--- it, we fight.'' 'That's part of what is so extraordinary about him — he has that fight in him,' Scholder said. 'He knows how to be strategic, and he's such a brilliant legal mind and has always reminded us that we're going to take care of each other, and that these laws, for better or worse, will never actually take care of us.' Feder said that going forward, he hopes the film provokes conversations about how laws restricting transition-related care could have widespread effects outside of the trans community. He also said he hopes people will 'examine and understand how they want to be able to make decisions about their own body.' 'We're seeing state after state ban abortion, and soon it's going to be all contraception, and then it's who are you going to be able to marry, do you have any privacy in your own home? It's going there. This is one example of how we are a moment of complete civil liberty freefall,' he said.
Axios
31-01-2025
- Health
- Axios
Trump signs executive order to defund youth gender-affirming care
President Trump issued an executive order on Tuesday attempting to ban federal funding or support for youth gender-affirming care. The big picture: The policy is the administration's latest in a series of attacks against transgender people in the U.S. The latest executive order applies to people under 19, categorizing 18-year-olds with children. What's next: Trump directed the Department of Health and Human Service to publish a review of existing literature on best practices for promoting the health of children with gender dysphoria within 90 days. The department was also directed to regulate programs like Medicare or Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, essential health benefit requirements and federally funded manuals of diseases and disorders. The head of each executive department or agency that provides research or education grants was ordered to take steps to ensure that institutions receiving funding end gender-affirming care. The order also calls for removing federal funding from medical schools and hospitals that research gender-affirming care. Catch up quick: On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order that the federal government would only recognize two sexes, male and female. He's since called on the Pentagon to formulate a new policy that would target transgender service members. What they're saying: Chase Strangio, Co-Director of the ACLU's LGBT & HIV Project, said in a statement: "Today's order lays out a clear plan to shut down access to life-saving medical care for transgender youth nationwide, overriding the role of families and putting politics between patients and their doctors." "We will not allow this dangerous, sweeping, and unconstitutional order to stand," added Strangio, who defended access to gender-affirming care before the Supreme Court last year. Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement: "It is deeply unfair to play politics with people's lives and strip transgender young people, their families, and their providers of the freedom to make necessary health care decisions." LGBTQ media advocacy group GLAAD in a statement called the rhetoric in Trump's executive orders "appallingly inaccurate and incoherent" and "already ruled unconstitutional by one judge last week." It added the language was "increasingly extreme in defaming transgender people and spreading graphic disinformation about health care that is supported by every major medical association." Reality check: Gender-affirming care is supported by major medical organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association, which all concur that gender-affirming care is lifesaving medical care. Drugs like puberty blockers are temporary and reversible and used for both trans and non-trans youth who experience early onset puberty. Between the lines: Fewer than 0.1% of adolescents received drugs for gender-affirming care between 2018 and 2022, per a study led by Harvard University researchers published this month. No patient under 12 years old who were transgender or gender diverse received hormones, the study found. Zoom out: The Supreme Court, meanwhile, seems likely to uphold a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth following oral arguments last month. Since the first legislative ban on youth gender-affirming care was passed in 2021, such legislation has taken effect in 26 states, per the Human Rights Campaign. Go deeper: Trump's road map for defunding gender-affirming care Editor's note: This story has been updated with reactions from the ACLU, GLAAD and Human Rights Campaign.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A new executive order cuts access to gender-related health care. What does it mean for a major lawsuit on transgender minors?
President Donald Trump announced new restrictions on gender-related health care on Tuesday, releasing an executive order that aims to prevent federal funds from being spent on gender transitions for children and teens younger than 19. The order directs health insurance programs run by the federal government, including Medicaid, to stop covering transition-related care, and warns medical schools and hospitals that they could lose access to federal funding if they continue providing such care to young people. 'It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called 'transition' of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,' the order says. The new executive order ramps up a nationwide battle over gender-related care for minors, which is already restricted or banned in around half of U.S. states. It will likely affect ongoing lawsuits over those state-level policies, including a current Supreme Court case, and it will face new lawsuits, as well. 'We will not allow this dangerous, sweeping, and unconstitutional order to stand,' said Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU's LGBT & HIV Project, in a statement on Tuesday. Strangio defended gender-related health care for children and teens in front of the Supreme Court in December. The new order, titled 'Protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation,' describes medical transitions for minors as a 'dangerous trend (that) will be a stain on our Nation's history.' The text says that the purpose of the funding restrictions is to protect children from making medical decisions they will come to regret and to fight back against the 'radical and false claim that adults can change a child's sex.' The order specifically takes aim at the use of puberty blockers, sex hormones and surgical intervention on children and teens under age 19 who want their physical appearance to align with a sex that differs from the one they were assigned at birth. 'Today, it was my great honor to sign an Executive Order banning the chemical castration and medical mutilation of innocent children in the United States of America,' Trump wrote about the order on Truth Social. 'My Order directs Agencies to use every available means to cut off Federal financial participation in institutions which seek to provide these barbaric medical procedures, that should have never been allowed to take place!' The ACLU, Lambda Legal and other civil rights organizations have vowed to fight the new executive order in court. Based on their statements, it seems clear that they will make claims related to the Constitution's equal protection clause and argue that transgender children and teens seeking gender-related health care are being treated differently than their peers who need the same types of treatments for other medical reasons, such as early onset puberty. The groups may also argue that the order unlawfully interferes with parents' rights to direct the medical care for their children. 'This broadside condemns transgender youth to extreme and unnecessary pain and suffering, and their parents to agonized futility in caring for their child — all while denying them access to the same medically recommended health care that is readily available to their cisgender peers," said Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, senior counsel and health care strategist for Lambda Legal, in a statement. 'We fought previous attempts by the first Trump administration to restrict health care and we won. We stand ready to fight back against this even more pernicious effort to deny medically necessary health care to our youth.' Similar arguments are at the center of the ongoing Supreme Court case over a Tennessee law preventing transgender children and teens under age 18 from accessing certain types of gender-related care. The families seeking to overturn the law, who are represented by the ACLU, say that the policy promotes unlawful sex discrimination because it treats minors seeking treatments like hormone therapy differently depending on their sex classification at birth. Elizabeth Prelogar, the U.S. solicitor general during the Biden administration, also argued against the Tennessee law during oral arguments in December. Before Tuesday's executive order, it was assumed that the federal government would likely switch sides in the case after Trump took office. Now, that's pretty much guaranteed. Such a move could delay the Supreme Court's ruling, which was previously expected by the end of June, as the Deseret News previously reported. The new executive order may also prompt changes to Tennessee's policy on gender-related health care for minors, as well as similar policies in other states, although state-level laws typically threaten health care providers with legal action, rather than loss of funding.
Los Angeles Times
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The future of trans lives and laws explored in ‘Heightened Scrutiny'
Sam Feder and Chase Strangio stopped by the L.A. Times Studios @ Sundance Film Festival presented by Chase Sapphire Reserve to talk about their documentary, 'Heightened Scrutiny' and how media coverage of trans issues has affected the lives, and laws, of trans people.
