Federal judges block Kentucky, Tennessee protections from transgender interventions

Federal judges in Kentucky and Tennessee on Wednesday temporarily blocked parts of two laws that were created to protect children from being prescribed cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. Legislators in Kentucky overrode Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto in March to pass Senate Bill 150, which protects minors from being taught transgender ideas in schools and prohibits doctors from performing transgender procedures on minors. Tennessee legislators in March approved Senate Bill 1, which would also protect children from any transgender-related interventions. Both laws were to take effect in July.

Have other judges struck down similar laws? A United States District Judge last week ruled that an Arkansas law violated the constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection of Arkansas children and their families. State lawmakers approved the law, called the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, or SAFE Act, in 2021. It was the first law of its kind in the country. 

Dig deeper: Read my report in Relations about other states that are enacting laws to protect children from the transgender wave.