When a federal judge initially blocked the law from taking effect, the Williams family celebrated with ice cream.
“Because it meant that we didn’t have to go to another clinic that was four hours away to get care,” says L.W., a 15-year-old transgender girl and a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors. WPLN News is only using her initials to protect her identity.
L says gender-affirming care, like puberty blockers and hormone therapy, is crucial to her mental health.
“I was definitely very … depressed before I went on estrogen, or especially before puberty blockers, because I wasn’t myself, and it was just sort of difficult to care about everything around me,” she says. “I really just didn’t feel like I was able to enjoy life.”
Now, L is no longer able to access gender-affirming care in her home state. Hours after a federal judge temporarily blocked the law, Tennessee’s Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti issued an emergency appeal, and a federal court sided with the state.
In its opinion, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals cited the Dobbs decision, which ended the federal right to abortion. The court argues that both issues should be left up to the states.
The court also says that it sees no proof that gender-affirming care is “deeply rooted in our history and traditions.”
That worries L’s parents, who say they’ve seen a big change in their daughter since she began medically transitioning.
“She is living authentically as a girl. She’s 15. And fits a little bit of the stereotype of a 15-year-old girl. A little bit,” says Samantha Williams.
“There’s some eye-rolling going on. Oh, yeah, for sure,” Brian Williams says.
“Definitely,” Samantha says. “But she’s a happy, healthy kid. Definitely in a much better place mentally than she was.”
On L’s first birthday after she came out as trans, her mom says she was the belle of the ball.
“It was funny, like the whole group would follow her through the house. Like, if she moved, if she was trying to shift between groups, they would just follow her around, and she was so happy,” Samantha says. “I have some pictures of her just laughing like crazy at that party that just bring me joy.”
To hold onto that joy, the Williams family, like many others, are now looking to go out of state for gender-affirming care. But there are complications.
“The two states where we were looking to go for care if the injunction wasn’t granted, now have bills of their own, which means we have to go even further,” Samantha says.
The ruling is temporary. The court has until the end of September to reach a final decision on whether the law will stay in effect while the lawsuit continues.
