Dear State Attorneys General: The U.S. Department of Justice (the Department) is committed to ensuring that transgender youth, like all youth, are treated fairly and with dignity in accordance with federal law. This includes ensuring that such youth are not subjected to unlawful discrimination based on their gender identity, including when seeking gender-affirming care. We write to remind you of several important federal constitutional and statutory obligations that flow from these fundamental principles.
State laws and policies that prevent parents or guardians from following the advice of a healthcare professional regarding what may be medically necessary or otherwise appropriate care for transgender minors may infringe on rights protected by both the Equal Protection and the Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Equal Protection Clause requires heightened scrutiny of laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and prohibits such discrimination absent an “exceedingly. persuasive” justification. Because a government cannot discriminate against a person for being transgender “without discriminating against that individual based on sex,” state laws or policies that discriminate against transgender people must be “substantially related to a sufficiently important governmental interest.” A law or policy need not specifically single out persons who are transgender to be subject to heightened scrutiny.
When a state or recipient of federal funds criminalizes or even restricts a type of medical care predominantly sought by transgender persons, an intent to disfavor that class can “readily be presumed.”
( PDF – 4 pages )
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1489066/download
America First Legal sued to stop HHS from carrying out this vile threat
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