This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Skrmetti, allowing Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth to remain in effect. We are carefully reviewing the ruling and evaluating what it may mean for our case, Brandt v. Griffin, which challenges Arkansas’s similar ban.
Importantly, Arkansas’s ban remains blocked and gender-affirming care for transgender youth remains legal in our state. We are still awaiting a decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Brandt v. Griffin, and nothing in today’s ruling changes that.
We brought Brandt v. Griffin because Arkansas’s ban on gender-affirming care is discriminatory, harmful, and unjust. It targets transgender youth and their families for exclusion from safe, medically necessary healthcare — care that is supported by every major medical association in the country. Denying young people this care doesn’t protect anyone. It only causes pain, distress, and lasting harm to transgender Arkansans who deserve the freedom to live and thrive.
While today’s decision is deeply painful, it is not the end of the road for transgender youth, their families, or the fight for bodily autonomy. Skrmetti does not give states a green light to pass any and all anti-trans laws. It does not upend existing precedent affirming the rights of transgender people under the Constitution. And it does not silence our fight for a future where trans people are safe, supported, and free.
The ACLU of Arkansas will continue to press forward with unshakable resolve — alongside our partners, our clients, and our communities — until every transgender person in Arkansas can access the care they need and live fully as themselves.