Chase Strangio to be the first openly trans lawyer to present to the U.S.A. Supreme Court

Chase Strangio is set to be the first openly trans lawyer to present arguments before the Supreme Court, beginning on December 4, for the case U.S.A. v. Skrmetti, which will significantly shape transgender rights in the United States for the foreseeable future, according to ‘LGBTQ Nation’.

Strangio serves as the co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project and has been key in steering the organisation through various trans-related legal challenges. He was also part of the legal team that triumphed in Brandt v. Rutledge, a case against a ban on trans healthcare, representing four families with trans youth.

The Skrmetti case involves three families with transgender children and a doctor, who contend that Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors has deprived them of crucial medical care and caused harm, prompting them, with the ACLU’s support, to sue the Tennessee attorney general to halt the enforcement of the law.

The case was brought to the Supreme Court after progressing through a District Court and a Court of Appeals, with the Biden Administration appealing and agreeing to share their time with the private plaintiffs.

The administration stated in their appeal, “This Court’s resolution of the question presented will determine whether the plaintiff adolescents have access to essential medical care in Tennessee and whether the plaintiff parents face the choice of relocating to a different State or forgoing essential medical care for their children.”

Strangio, an alumnus of Northeastern University School of Law and Grinnell College, joined the ACLU as a staff attorney in 2013. He had previously worked as an Equal Justice Works fellow and as the director of Prisoner Justice Initiatives at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, representing incarcerated trans and gender non-conforming individuals. He co-founded the Lorena Borjas Community Fund, which offers direct bail and bond assistance to LGBTQ+ immigrants.

Strangio has been involved in landmark cases such as Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalised same-sex marriage across all 50 states, and Bostock v. Clayton County, which secured protections for LGBTQ+ workers. He also challenged North Carolina’s H.B. 2 and the trans military ban under former President Donald Trump. Additionally, he represented Chelsea Manning, a trans whistleblower who leaked military documents to WikiLeaks.

Cecillia Wang, the legal director of the ACLU, praised Strangio, stating, “Chase Strangio is our nation’s leading legal expert on the rights of transgender people, bar none. He brings to the lectern not only brilliant constitutional lawyering, but also the tenacity and heart of a civil rights champion. Our clients couldn’t have a better advocate in this case.”

James Esseks, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, similarly commended Strangio, saying, “There is no attorney in the country better suited for this landmark moment in LGBTQ history than Chase Strangio. He has argued the issues before the court in Skrmetti four times before federal appeals courts, more than any attorney in the country. Anyone who has worked with Chase knows the intelligence, compassion, and courage he brings to every fight for the rights and well-being of his plaintiffs. It remains one of the great honors of my career to work alongside Chase and I have no doubt the court will be likewise impressed by the depth of his knowledge, the strength of his arguments, and the power of his empathy.”