By John Fritze

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s administration is switching positions in a major Supreme Court case on transgender rights, backing away from the Biden administration’s opposition to Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

The appeal over Tennessee’s ban is the most significant LGBTQ+ case the Supreme Court has considered in years. The Biden administration had challenged the state’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy. A federal appeals court allowed the ban to take effect in 2023 and the court heard oral arguments in December.

While the Biden administration sued over the law, officials in the Trump administration told the Supreme Court on Friday they believe that lawsuit was a mistake and that they support the state’s ability to ban gender affirming care for minors.

But Justice Department officials also stressed that the high court should still decide the case, even though the government no longer believes in the appeal.

“The department has now determined that SB1 does not deny equal protection on account of sex or any other characteristic,” the Justice Department told the Supreme Court. “Accordingly, the new administration would not have intervened to challenge SB1 – let alone sought this court’s review of the court of appeals’ decision reversing the preliminary injunction against SB1.”

Given Trump’s public statements and executive actions on issues surrounding transgender minors, the decision to break from the Biden administration had long been expected. Trump repeatedly vowed on the campaign trail to end “transgender craziness.” Trump signed an executive order late last month aimed at ending federal support for medical procedures that involve surgical interventions or the use of puberty blockers or sex hormones in those under 19 years old.

The Supreme Court has often looked unfavorably on the government switching positions in pending cases when a new president takes power.

Tennessee’s SB 1 bans hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors in the state and imposes civil penalties for doctors who violate the prohibitions. The law also bans gender-affirming surgeries, though that provision is not at issue in the case.

During oral arguments in December, several of the court’s conservatives appeared ready to back the law, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

Tennessee’s Republican attorney general, Jonathan Skrmetti, argued the state has an interest in protecting minors from the potential side effects of the treatments.

That likely explains why the Trump administration is not recommending the Supreme Court drop the case. The suggestion that the court carry on removes the uncertainty that could have cropped up if the Trump administration had simply switched sides.

“The United States believes that the confluence of several factors counsels against seeking to dismiss its case in this court,” the Justice Department wrote.

Assuming the court keeps the case on its docket, it is expected to hand down a decision by late June.

The-CNN-Wire
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