Conflicting Courts on ‘Trans’ Issues

CV NEWS FEED // The most controversial aspects of the LGBTQ movement will likely come before the Supreme Court in the coming session as circuit courts have been handing down conflicting rulings on parental rights and the protection of children.

In the past two years, a growing number of states have put legislation in place to protect children from gender ideology.

“At least 22 states have adopted sports restrictions, though enforcement has been put on hold by courts in three of them” the Associated Press (AP) reported. These states are banding together to protect children from experimental treatments that could forever change their lives. At least five states have already placed parameters on how state-funded schools can approach so-called “gender identity” and sexual behavior within the younger grades.

Child Safety Blocked and Prevented

In Indiana, Arkansas, and Kentucky, pro-LGBTQ groups organized to put a hold on the bans. If a legal challenge is opened before a law is fully implemented, the legislation in question is often put on hold. In all three states, the move was successful, and the bills that would have protected children were struck down. 

The ongoing controversies surrounding the LGBTQ agenda are not just about hormone treatments and genital surgeries. Other states are permitting child abuse and potential sexual crimes to continue. In Wisconsin, a judge overruled a school district’s policy against boys entering girls’ bathrooms in the name of “transgender” inclusion.

Child Safety Upheld 

In direct conflict with these courts, however, a 2-1 Sixth Circuit Court decision in early July upheld Tennessee’s child-protective law despite ongoing appeals. 

Alabama was holding off on enforcing its own law due to lawsuits, however, in August a three-judge panel from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals stated the holdup had been an error. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the ruling a “significant victory for our country, for children, and for common sense.”

“The Eleventh Circuit reinforced that the State has the authority to safeguard the physical and psychological wellbeing of minors,” Marshall said.

“Absent a constitutional mandate to the contrary, these types of issues are quintessentially the sort that our system of government reserves to legislative, not judicial, action,” Judge Barbara Lagoa wrote for the majority.

In Texas, five families claiming their children are “transgender” joined with several doctors to bring a lawsuit against a child-protective law that went into effect on September 1. The effort to prevent the legislation from going into effect was dismissed, and the new law, known as Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), now protects children from genital surgeries and “trans” hormone treatments. The law is being appealed, and Judge Maria Cantú Hexsel believes that SB 14 will be overturned after a lawsuit scheduled for next May. 

The Outlook

The importance of these court decisions cannot be overstated. If enough courts pass child protection laws, and LGBTQ groups continue to challenge them, the contested issues at the center of the related legal battles will have to seek resolution in a Supreme Court decision.

“Most civilized societies protect young children from the mutilation and sterilization associated with gender dysphoria,” CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky said. “This lower court split could soon allow the U.S. to protect children from these deadly crusades against them once and for all.”