Tennessee AG Optimistic in SCOTUS Gender Case After Kentucky Win

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti expressed cautious optimism about the future of his Supreme Court case challenging gender-affirming care bans for minors after securing a legal victory in Kentucky that blocks the Biden administration‘s Title IX rewrite nationwide.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Northern Division ruled in favor of Tennessee in Cardona v. Tennessee on Thursday, marking another win for Skrmetti’s efforts to counter federal policies on transgender protections. “Every win we get is another break in the wall of ensuring that the law means what the people who voted for it thought it meant,” Skrmetti told Fox News Digital in a Tuesday interview.

The ruling follows the Supreme Court’s rejection of the Biden administration’s emergency request to enforce portions of a new Title IX rule, which aimed to expand protections against discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy. The rule, issued in April and effective Aug. 1, 2024, faced widespread opposition from Republican-led states, including Tennessee.

“The Title IX rule was the height of overreach, administrative overreach by the Biden administration, and we were very happy to be able to stop that,” Skrmetti said.

Skrmetti now awaits the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Skrmetti, a case challenging Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors. The court is expected to rule by June on whether the equal protection clause prevents states from restricting puberty blockers and hormone treatments for transgender youth.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of transgender minors and their parents, argues that the law infringes on parental rights and forces families to seek care out-of-state. “It seems like the momentum has really shifted almost culturally on these issues,” Skrmetti said, describing a broader “vibe shift” in public opinion.

Skrmetti emphasized the importance of democratic processes in shaping laws, stating, “When you see people trying to rewrite laws through creative judging, through creative regulating, that alienates the people from the laws that bind them, and it’s bad for America.”

As the Supreme Court prepares to issue its decision, Skrmetti remains focused on defending state laws against federal overreach. “We’ll know what the Supreme Court does when the Supreme Court does it,” he said.