The Urgency of Being Trans: Quotes from the Crowd Outside U.S. v Skrmetti

by Valorie Van-Dieman

photography by Piper Bly

They spoke of freedom and pain, of respect and discrimination on this frigid Wednesday outside the U.S. Supreme Court. They talked about the lives that have been saved, the people who have thrived and the individuals who continue to live with uncertainty and apprehension. 

And time and again, they spoke of the urgency of the moment. 

Hundreds of trans people, relatives and allies gathered outside the courthouse in the nation’s capital while the justices heard oral arguments in U.S. v Skrmetti, a case that will decide the fate of health care for trans youth in Tennessee and beyond. Anti-trans advocates thronged the court as well.

Here is what they had to say:

Jace Woodrum

ACLU South Carolina

“The treatment that we are talking about here – puberty blockers, testosterone, estrogen – these are treatments that are provided to young people who aren’t transgender every day. And in this country when we provide treatment to some groups and not other groups, that’s discrimination.”

Lilly Wachowski

“For me, my hope is that trans people are able to fill up their trans-o-meters and connect in meaningful ways and also leave this place with a sense of urgency to expand those connections as much as possible. The only way that we’re going to keep us safe is if we’re holding each other up, and if we’re taking meaningful action to make sure everyone is protected as much as they can be.”

Frances O’Keefe

“Going through the wrong puberty was an extremely painful experience for me. I nearly died because of it, I’ve had suicidal thoughts because of going through the wrong puberty. Even after it’s all over, there’s all the after-effects. I don’t want anyone else going through the same thing.”

Alleria Stanley

Transgender American Veterans Association 

”We are here to support all of our rights as they apply to all of us. We need to make sure that those who are determining our health care decisions are our doctors, not judges, not legislators, but the people who are trained and best know how to do so.”

Ethan Rice

Lambda Legal

“I really hope the outcome is that this court understands what this case is about, that it’s really about the freedom to be yourself and the freedom for youth to access the same medical care that cisgender youth have access to.

Nikita

“I think that I feel confident that equality, justice, love, and civil rights always wins in the end. If you look at history, any time someone asks for basic human rights, there has been a lot of opposition but there has always been winning in the end.”

Thom Rowell

“I’m here to support the trans community, in particular my son Dean who is 15 years old and depends on gender affirming care. It has saved his life. And I firmly believe that it is life-saving for trans kids everywhere. I would like to see the bans in the states that have them overturned even though we’re still safe in Connecticut for now.”

Landon Richie

TransTexas

“As a proud trans person from Texas, with the current law that’s in place in Texas that’s similar to the one Tennessee passed banning this essential life giving care for trans adolescents: It’s important that I’m here today on behalf of Texas and on behalf of myself as a former trans youth, now trans adult. We are in this fight together, Texas Tennessee, all across the country, we need each other now more than ever.”

Regardless of ruling, there is still plenty more of a fight ahead of us, as one anti-trans advocate, who identified herself as Sherry, made clear in an interview outside the court.

Speaking of trans people, she said, “They’ve been told that they’ve been born in the wrong body. That’s just not physically possible. That’s impossible. They’re transing away the gay kids. It’s modern conversion therapy.”

Still, the sight of so many trans people and their allies fighting for the rights of youth was a beautiful thing to see. The unity we saw in front of the Supreme Court will be needed to gain and keep the rights we all so deserve.

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Valorie Van-Dieman (she/her) is the editorial assistant at Assigned Media. @valorievandieman.bsky.social

Piper Bly is a professional illustrator and underground cartoonist. When she’s not busy plowing away at her drawing board, singing dirges in the moonlight, or wandering throughout the United States, she can often be found tending to her ivies, frying up some biscuits, spending unreasonable hours in the gym, or floating above the Mississippi River at midnight, waiting for the tide to wrap her in its loving embrace and take her away. Her whereabouts are currently undisclosed. You, however, can find her at piperbly.com.