The Supreme Court Dealt A Blow to Trans Rights. Here's How to Take Action
Last week, the Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to trans youth, their families and the communities that support them. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Skrmetti v. U.S. that SB1— Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors —does not illegally discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex or transgender status. This allows Tennessee, and any other states that may choose to follow its discriminatory lead, to ban medically-necessary health care for minors.
As one of the Tennessee parents challenging this ban put it, “the Supreme Court’s ruling on Wednesday will make it even harder for our daughter to get lifesaving health care. It will harm the lawsuit’s unnamed families and those that come after us, with younger kids just starting to understand and express themselves.”
This is a blow for trans youth who simply want to grow up healthy, supported, and seen. It is not, however, where the legal battle ends. Importantly, the Supreme Court limited its ruling to just Tennessee’s law. It did not decide on the broader questions about the legality of discrimination against transgender people in other areas.
Below, the American Civil Liberties Union breaks down what the court’s ruling means for trans youth across the nation, how we can all fight back, and how we can best support ourselves and our communities in this moment.
What Does the Court’s Ruling Mean For Trans Youth?
The Supreme Court’s ruling does not impact youth in states that have not passed gender-affirming care bans. For young people in Tennessee and Kentucky, however, this ruling means that access to medical care that has been deemed essential by every major medical organization will be denied. In states like Indiana, Alabama, and Florida, where courts have upheld similar bans, this ruling may embolden lawmakers and courts to let those bans stay in place.
Does Skrmetti Limit Care for Trans Adults?
No. This case was specifically about minors in two states – Kentucky and Tennessee.
The ruling didn’t address an equally powerful claim raised in Skrmetti and other cases: that these bans violate the rights of parents to direct their children’s medical care. In this case parents, who are legal adults, can challenge whether denying their minor child health care is a violation of their rights. That fight continues in lower courts, including a major case in Arkansas where four transgender youth and their families are challenging a similar ban.
What Can State Courts Do to Protect Trans Rights?
Though the Supreme Court did not provide federal-level security for trans individuals to seek care, at the state-level, bans can still be challenged under state constitutions and laws, which in some cases offer stronger protections than federal law.
This work is already happening in states like Montana, where state courts have blocked gender-affirming care bans under state law, and medical care is still accessible. Kansas and Ohio are also challenging bans on gender-affirming care in their court systems.
Does the Skrmetti Ruling Impact Any of Trump's Anti-Trans Executive Orders?
No. U.S. v. Skrmetti does not resolve challenges to anti-trans executive orders from the Trump administration. This case was about medical care for transgender minors in two states—it does not speak to broader attacks on transgender rights.
The ACLU, our nationwide affiliate network, and other LGBTQ rights organizations are challenging many of Trump’s attacks on transgender people’s rights and health care, including his orders restricting our ability to update passports and his order attempting to coerce doctors to drop their transgender patients.
How Can We Support the Trans Community Today?
Transgender youth deserve to be safe, loved, and respected—everywhere. You can help by taking action:
Connect with your state ACLU affiliate, PFLAG, or local LGBTQ organizations.
Support the Trans Youth Emergency Project, a nationwide effort by the Campaign for Southern Equality helping families access the care their children need.
Contact your members of Congress and demand they stand with transgender people and families—rejecting laws that let politicians dictate our personal health care decisions.
Every action, every voice, every ally matters. The fight for trans lives isn’t over—and it needs you.
Published June 26, 2025 at 07:55PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/lrKAdfU
The Supreme Court Dealt A Blow to Trans Rights. Here's How to Take Action
Last week, the Supreme Court dealt a devastating blow to trans youth, their families and the communities that support them. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in Skrmetti v. U.S. that SB1— Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors —does not illegally discriminate against individuals on the basis of sex or transgender status. This allows Tennessee, and any other states that may choose to follow its discriminatory lead, to ban medically-necessary health care for minors.
As one of the Tennessee parents challenging this ban put it, “the Supreme Court’s ruling on Wednesday will make it even harder for our daughter to get lifesaving health care. It will harm the lawsuit’s unnamed families and those that come after us, with younger kids just starting to understand and express themselves.”
This is a blow for trans youth who simply want to grow up healthy, supported, and seen. It is not, however, where the legal battle ends. Importantly, the Supreme Court limited its ruling to just Tennessee’s law. It did not decide on the broader questions about the legality of discrimination against transgender people in other areas.
Below, the American Civil Liberties Union breaks down what the court’s ruling means for trans youth across the nation, how we can all fight back, and how we can best support ourselves and our communities in this moment.
What Does the Court’s Ruling Mean For Trans Youth?
The Supreme Court’s ruling does not impact youth in states that have not passed gender-affirming care bans. For young people in Tennessee and Kentucky, however, this ruling means that access to medical care that has been deemed essential by every major medical organization will be denied. In states like Indiana, Alabama, and Florida, where courts have upheld similar bans, this ruling may embolden lawmakers and courts to let those bans stay in place.
Does Skrmetti Limit Care for Trans Adults?
No. This case was specifically about minors in two states – Kentucky and Tennessee.
The ruling didn’t address an equally powerful claim raised in Skrmetti and other cases: that these bans violate the rights of parents to direct their children’s medical care. In this case parents, who are legal adults, can challenge whether denying their minor child health care is a violation of their rights. That fight continues in lower courts, including a major case in Arkansas where four transgender youth and their families are challenging a similar ban.
What Can State Courts Do to Protect Trans Rights?
Though the Supreme Court did not provide federal-level security for trans individuals to seek care, at the state-level, bans can still be challenged under state constitutions and laws, which in some cases offer stronger protections than federal law.
This work is already happening in states like Montana, where state courts have blocked gender-affirming care bans under state law, and medical care is still accessible. Kansas and Ohio are also challenging bans on gender-affirming care in their court systems.
Does the Skrmetti Ruling Impact Any of Trump's Anti-Trans Executive Orders?
No. U.S. v. Skrmetti does not resolve challenges to anti-trans executive orders from the Trump administration. This case was about medical care for transgender minors in two states—it does not speak to broader attacks on transgender rights.
The ACLU, our nationwide affiliate network, and other LGBTQ rights organizations are challenging many of Trump’s attacks on transgender people’s rights and health care, including his orders restricting our ability to update passports and his order attempting to coerce doctors to drop their transgender patients.
How Can We Support the Trans Community Today?
Transgender youth deserve to be safe, loved, and respected—everywhere. You can help by taking action:
Connect with your state ACLU affiliate, PFLAG, or local LGBTQ organizations.
Support the Trans Youth Emergency Project, a nationwide effort by the Campaign for Southern Equality helping families access the care their children need.
Contact your members of Congress and demand they stand with transgender people and families—rejecting laws that let politicians dictate our personal health care decisions.
Every action, every voice, every ally matters. The fight for trans lives isn’t over—and it needs you.
Published June 27, 2025 at 12:25AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/VSGCQD5
Jose Antonio Vargas on What We Get Wrong About Immigration Reform
This Mother’s Day was the first one that Jose Antonio Vargas celebrated with his mother in person in 32 years. It was also the first one his grandmother, who immigrated to the states in 1984 and helped raise Vargas from the age of 12, had celebrated with her daughter in as many years.
“I don’t have language for what [the reunion] was like,” says Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and immigrant rights activist. “There are just no words.”
Credit: Jose Antonio Vargas
Born in the Philippines, Vargas was sent to California to live with his grandparents, who were naturalized U.S. citizens. Though raised in America, Vargas remained undocumented and spent more than three decades without legal status. That changed this year after he took the significant risk of leaving the country to be processed for reentry with no guarantee he’d be allowed back in.
Christmas night 2024, Vargas drove from San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico. It was the first time he had left the U.S. since he arrived more than 20 years ago. After risking deportation by leaving, Vargas was eventually granted a temporary non-immigrant O visa for individuals with “extraordinary ability” — the same category once held by former First Lady Melania Trump.
“I would argue that all undocumented people in Trump’s America require extraordinary ability — and resilience — just to survive,” he says.
For Vargas, immigration isn’t just personal, it’s foundational to the American experience. In conversations with people across the country, he has encountered widespread misconceptions about how the immigration system works.
“People ask, ‘Why don’t you just get legal?’ as if it’s as simple as flipping a switch,” Vargas says. But legal pathways are narrow, costly, and often unavailable, even for those with U.S. citizen relatives or long-standing ties to the country.
Below, Vargas shares with the ACLU five common misconceptions that he’s encountered in his experience as an immigrant rights’ advocate – and how he’s fighting for change.
Everyone Can Get a Green Card or Visa
The U.S. offers green cards through just a handful of narrow paths: refugee status, the diversity visa lottery, family or employer sponsorship, or for people with extraordinary skills or wealth. These options are either highly competitive, extremely limited, or out of reach for most people.
For example, the diversity lottery only accepts a small number of applicants and excludes many countries entirely. Most family sponsorships have decades-long wait times. Employer-based green cards are usually reserved for people with advanced degrees. And marriage to a U.S. citizen doesn’t bypass the system—it requires financial sponsorship and, for those who entered unlawfully, can mean a three- or 10-year bar from re-entering the country.
The reality is that even when someone qualifies, long backlogs and strict caps often make immigration impossible. It’s not just difficult; it’s often not an option at all.
Being Undocumented Is a Choice
It’s a common assumption that people who are undocumented have ignored legal paths. But we know that many legal paths to citizenship are, in fact, blocked, crowded or impractical. When someone’s survival is at risk, waiting years for a visa isn’t realistic. Many come because they have no other option—and they often try to fix their status later, only to face bans, income requirements, or rejection.
Around one in five undocumented people are Dreamers—brought here as young kids, raised in the U.S., and often unaware of their status until they’re older. For them, and for many others, being undocumented isn’t about ignoring the rules, it’s about surviving a system that offers no real way in to the only place they’ve ever known as home.
Marriage Guarantees Legal Status
There’s a common misconception that marrying a U.S. citizen automatically leads to legal residency. It doesn’t. The process is complicated, and for many, it’s filled with risks.
If someone entered the U.S. without a visa and stayed more than six months, they can be barred from returning for three or 10 years if they leave to attend their green card interview abroad. That puts families in an impossible situation: stay together without status, or be separated for years. Even when the bars don’t apply, the process takes time, money, and documentation. The citizen-spouse must prove they can financially support their partner, and both must go through background checks, interviews, and legal filings.
Marriage can be a path, but it’s not simple, fast, or guaranteed. For many mixed-status couples, it’s a stressful, uncertain process with no clear outcome.
Immigration Policy Has Nothing to Do With Race
Much of today’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is rooted in fear of demographic change, especially when it comes to immigrants from nonwhite countries. After 2016, my nonprofit, Define American, studied top anti-immigration content on YouTube. Many of the most-watched videos promoted the “Great Replacement” theory: the idea that immigration is meant to undermine white political and cultural power. Once a fringe belief, it’s now echoed in mainstream political messaging.
Terms like “invasion” have been used widely in political campaigns and media coverage, fueling fear and dehumanization. This kind of rhetoric shapes public opinion and justifies harmful policies, including mass deportations and family separations. If we want fair and humane immigration policies, we have to address how racism continues to shape the conversation.
"Too Many" Immigrants Saps Resources
Immigrants play a critical role in the U.S. economy and communities. They make up about 18 percent of the workforce, contribute more than $3 trillion to our gross domestic product, and pay more than $500 billion in taxes each year.
They also fill jobs in industries with ongoing labor shortages, like agriculture, construction, and elder care. In health care, immigrants make up a major share of doctors, nurses, and home health aides, keeping essential systems running, especially during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the labor force, immigrants open businesses, create jobs, and support public services through taxes. As the U.S. population ages, we’ll increasingly rely on immigrants to sustain economic growth and meet basic workforce needs.
These are not people taking from the country—they’re helping it move forward. Policies that restrict their ability to stay and contribute don’t just hurt them—they hold all of us back.
An updated edition of Vargas’ memoir, “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,” which reflects even more deeply on how the rise of mis- and disinformation is reshaping how we think about immigration and fanning of anti-immigration sentiment, is available now.
Published June 18, 2025 at 01:07AM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/TzdIAiU
Jose Antonio Vargas on What We Get Wrong About Immigration Reform
This Mother’s Day was the first one that Jose Antonio Vargas celebrated with his mother in person in 32 years. It was also the first one his grandmother, who immigrated to the states in 1984 and helped raise Vargas from the age of 12, had celebrated with her daughter in as many years.
“I don’t have language for what [the reunion] was like,” says Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and immigrant rights activist. “There are just no words.”
Credit: Jose Antonio Vargas
Born in the Philippines, Vargas was sent to California to live with his grandparents, who were naturalized U.S. citizens. Though raised in America, Vargas remained undocumented and spent more than three decades without legal status. That changed this year after he took the significant risk of leaving the country to be processed for reentry with no guarantee he’d be allowed back in.
Christmas night 2024, Vargas drove from San Diego to Tijuana, Mexico. It was the first time he had left the U.S. since he arrived more than 20 years ago. After risking deportation by leaving, Vargas was eventually granted a temporary non-immigrant O visa for individuals with “extraordinary ability” — the same category once held by former First Lady Melania Trump.
“I would argue that all undocumented people in Trump’s America require extraordinary ability — and resilience — just to survive,” he says.
For Vargas, immigration isn’t just personal, it’s foundational to the American experience. In conversations with people across the country, he has encountered widespread misconceptions about how the immigration system works.
“People ask, ‘Why don’t you just get legal?’ as if it’s as simple as flipping a switch,” Vargas says. But legal pathways are narrow, costly, and often unavailable, even for those with U.S. citizen relatives or long-standing ties to the country.
Below, Vargas shares with the ACLU five common misconceptions that he’s encountered in his experience as an immigrant rights’ advocate – and how he’s fighting for change.
Everyone Can Get a Green Card or Visa
The U.S. offers green cards through just a handful of narrow paths: refugee status, the diversity visa lottery, family or employer sponsorship, or for people with extraordinary skills or wealth. These options are either highly competitive, extremely limited, or out of reach for most people.
For example, the diversity lottery only accepts a small number of applicants and excludes many countries entirely. Most family sponsorships have decades-long wait times. Employer-based green cards are usually reserved for people with advanced degrees. And marriage to a U.S. citizen doesn’t bypass the system—it requires financial sponsorship and, for those who entered unlawfully, can mean a three- or 10-year bar from re-entering the country.
The reality is that even when someone qualifies, long backlogs and strict caps often make immigration impossible. It’s not just difficult; it’s often not an option at all.
Being Undocumented Is a Choice
It’s a common assumption that people who are undocumented have ignored legal paths. But we know that many legal paths to citizenship are, in fact, blocked, crowded or impractical. When someone’s survival is at risk, waiting years for a visa isn’t realistic. Many come because they have no other option—and they often try to fix their status later, only to face bans, income requirements, or rejection.
Around one in five undocumented people are Dreamers—brought here as young kids, raised in the U.S., and often unaware of their status until they’re older. For them, and for many others, being undocumented isn’t about ignoring the rules, it’s about surviving a system that offers no real way in to the only place they’ve ever known as home.
Marriage Guarantees Legal Status
There’s a common misconception that marrying a U.S. citizen automatically leads to legal residency. It doesn’t. The process is complicated, and for many, it’s filled with risks.
If someone entered the U.S. without a visa and stayed more than six months, they can be barred from returning for three or 10 years if they leave to attend their green card interview abroad. That puts families in an impossible situation: stay together without status, or be separated for years. Even when the bars don’t apply, the process takes time, money, and documentation. The citizen-spouse must prove they can financially support their partner, and both must go through background checks, interviews, and legal filings.
Marriage can be a path, but it’s not simple, fast, or guaranteed. For many mixed-status couples, it’s a stressful, uncertain process with no clear outcome.
Immigration Policy Has Nothing to Do With Race
Much of today’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is rooted in fear of demographic change, especially when it comes to immigrants from nonwhite countries. After 2016, my nonprofit, Define American, studied top anti-immigration content on YouTube. Many of the most-watched videos promoted the “Great Replacement” theory: the idea that immigration is meant to undermine white political and cultural power. Once a fringe belief, it’s now echoed in mainstream political messaging.
Terms like “invasion” have been used widely in political campaigns and media coverage, fueling fear and dehumanization. This kind of rhetoric shapes public opinion and justifies harmful policies, including mass deportations and family separations. If we want fair and humane immigration policies, we have to address how racism continues to shape the conversation.
"Too Many" Immigrants Saps Resources
Immigrants play a critical role in the U.S. economy and communities. They make up about 18 percent of the workforce, contribute more than $3 trillion to our gross domestic product, and pay more than $500 billion in taxes each year.
They also fill jobs in industries with ongoing labor shortages, like agriculture, construction, and elder care. In health care, immigrants make up a major share of doctors, nurses, and home health aides, keeping essential systems running, especially during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the labor force, immigrants open businesses, create jobs, and support public services through taxes. As the U.S. population ages, we’ll increasingly rely on immigrants to sustain economic growth and meet basic workforce needs.
These are not people taking from the country—they’re helping it move forward. Policies that restrict their ability to stay and contribute don’t just hurt them—they hold all of us back.
An updated edition of Vargas’ memoir, “Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen,” which reflects even more deeply on how the rise of mis- and disinformation is reshaping how we think about immigration and fanning of anti-immigration sentiment, is available now.
Published June 17, 2025 at 08:37PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/Sh1iy2X
Parents Push Back Against the Trump Administration's Latest Attack on Working Families
The Trump administration has followed through on its promise to gut the Head Start program. Since , it has slashed 60 percent of the Office of Head Start staff, closed half of the regional offices where staff with local knowledge worked, delayed funding necessary for payroll and rent, and undermined the program’s mission through its ban on anything it views as promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and/or accessibility, or “DEIA.”
Launched in 1965, Head Start was an outgrowth of the Civil Rights Movement and its promise of racial and economic justice, particularly for Black women and children in the United States. For 60 years, Head Start has transformed the lives of more than 40 million families by preparing children for school, supporting parents -- particularly mothers -- with access to childcare, and strengthening health, education, and economic outcomes for children under five.
The Trump administration's efforts to shutter Head Start have forcibly closed some programs temporarily and have made it virtually impossible for programs to meet the needs of the children and families that rely on them. The result is chaos, confusion, and uncertainty for working families seeking childcare. This is but one of the administration’s latest attacks on children, women, and especially Black women and other women of color. Like the attacks on other safety net programs, like food stamps and Medicaid, attacks on Head Start seek to deprive women of the means to be financially independent. Without Head Start, many women would not be able to work or go to school.
The ACLU Women’s Rights Project, the ACLU of Washington, the ACLU of Illinois, the Impact Fund, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Parent Voices Oakland and Family Forward Oregon, and the Head Start Association of Washington state, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The lawsuit asks the court to order the administration to stop the gutting of Head Start and to block the enforcement of its unconstitutional ban on programs that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Parents on the frontlines of the fight to protect Head Start have shared how they have already been affected by office closures, staff layoffs, and other attempts to undermine Head Start programming.
Desiree Guerra
Credit: Desiree Guerra
My two-year-old son is enrolled in an Early Head Start program, and my three-year-old daughter is planning to begin Head Start this September. Without Head Start, I would not be able to afford the rising cost of childcare in Oregon.
I have seen firsthand how Head Start has changed my children’s lives. Since joining Head Start, my son has improved his speech and motor skills, become more confident, and developed greater empathy for others. My daughter became more outgoing and confident through her experience with Head Start and had the opportunity to develop socially with other children her own age. Both children are proudly Black, Chilean, and white, and benefit from Head Start’s diverse environment, where they are able to learn about and are taught to celebrate their heritage and identity.
Head Start provides my son with healthy foods that he does not have access to at home due to cost. It also empowers me to be a better mother. I enrolled in Head Start’s parenting classes, which taught me to better understand the needs of my children and helped me to reparent myself. Today, because of Head Start, I can attend college as a full-time student, where I am studying social work. My ultimate goal is to obtain a master’s degree and to open a shelter for domestic violence survivors and their children. As a survivor, I want to help other families like mine and be part of the change I believe in. I can’t stay in college and achieve my dreams without the support the Head Start program provides. In fighting for Head Start, my family is not asking for handouts—we’re asking for a fair shot. It gives kids a chance to succeed and parents the support they need to keep going. These attacks on Head Start send the message that our children’s futures don’t matter, but they do. I won’t stop speaking up until they’re heard.
Osbornique Williams
Credit: Osbornique Williams
The Head Start teachers have been incredibly helpful in supporting my son learn how to better communicate. They take the time to make him feel heard and understood. With three kids, our household is very busy. Head Start provides a space for my son that is just for him—a setting where he gets to learn, interact, and play with other kids his own age.
My son is Black and multi-racial. His identity is celebrated in Head Start, where the students and staff also share his diverse background. I’m very fearful of my son losing this.
Because we cannot afford to pay for pre-school, without Head Start, my three-year-old son would lose access to Education. Since he is behind his peers in speech and language, losing the support of Head Start could undo the progress he has made and set him back even more.
Access to Head Start means that I am able to go to my doctor’s appointments, go grocery shopping, prepare meals, and otherwise take care of my family. Because of Head Start, I am able to be more focused and present with my other children, including going to my eight-year-old son’s sports practices and games to support and spend time with him. It takes a village to raise children, and Head Start is a part of that village.
Published June 13, 2025 at 08:51PM
via ACLU https://ift.tt/epWVAgx
