Long Lines, Cold, and Fears of Kettling at the Supreme Court Wednesday Morning
Assigned Media’s reporters were on the scene early, reporting on the Supreme Court case that may decide the fate of transgender healthcare.
Image by Piper Bly
by Valorie Van-Dieman
On an unusually cold December morning in Washington, DC, a few advocates and paid line-standers had been on the scene for the long, cold, dark hours of the night, while others trickled in with the daybreak. Many of the people slept in sleeping bags in the freezing cold overnight. Most of the rest sat huddled in blankets to keep warm.
Most Supreme Court cases don’t attract this sort of attention, but United States vs Skrmetti is no ordinary court case. At stake is the medical care of thousands of transgender children, as well as the question of whether discrimination against the transgender community will be given carte blanche by a court dominated by conservative justices with a proven appetite for upending the US legal landscape.
Experts have called the case the most significant one the high court will hear this session.
Transgender legislation watcher Allison Chapman from Philadelphia is one of many members of the trans community in town protesting for transgender rights. Chapman spoke to Assigned Media about what she’d observed on multiple visits to One First Street during the day and into the evening on Tuesday ahead of oral arguments on Wednesday.
Chapman described how some people began joining the public line, which has 50 spaces for general attendance at court hearings, before noon. This was several hours earlier than expected, according to a local line-standing service.
Chapman also said she’d seen members of right wing media on the scene Tuesday, naming the Christian Post and the Daily Wire, as well as a few representatives of activists on both the trans supportive and anti-trans sides beginning to show up later in the evening.
“People show up early to be sure the people on the opposing side don’t flow into our area and disrupt things. It’s not a big space, so you really need to have people here,” explained Chapman. Metal police barriers separated the two sides near the front of the public protest area, and more barriers lined the area for the public line and walled off the sidewalk where protests are expected to spill into. Chapman expressed concern about police “kettling,” a procedure where the movement of protesters trying to leave a space is constrained by officers.
Jessie McGrath, a Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County and a member of the Transgender Bar Association, spoke with Assigned Media as she walked towards the court to join the line for Supreme Court Bar members.
“I think there will be around 20 transgender lawyers there today,” McGrath said. “We’ve been admitting members to the Bar daily.”
Asked what she thinks the prospects for transgender rights are under this SCOTUS, McGrath said she hopes the justices do what’s right, which for her and other members of the trans community means supporting the right of trans youth and their families to access necessary healthcare without political interference.
Assigned Media will be on the scene all day, covering the court from both inside and outside.
Valorie Van-Dieman (she/her) is the editorial assistant at Assigned Media. @valorievandieman.bsky.social