Skrmetti and the Revival of Geduldig

How Ruth Bader Ginsburg Became Transphobic

Happy Friday everyone! Apologies for the late post, and welcome back to Lex Liberas. Please share the Substack with anyone interested in exploring constitutional law and American liberty:

Readers of my recent newsletters probably noticed the news of lower courts upholding transgender medical procedure bans for minors. Behind this trend is the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti (2025) and the development of litigation around state laws targeting gender ideology. Decided by a 6-3 majority, Skrmetti held that a state law banning gender medicine for transgender treatments (“gender-affirming care”) did not discriminate on the basis of sex, and was therefore constitutional. In reaching its conclusion, the majority relied on reasoning and prior cases that place gender ideology advocates between a rock and a hard place in future arguments. Those arguments will begin this term, as the Court has taken up an Equal Protection challenge to transgender athlete bans, and a free speech case on conversion therapy.