The U.S. Department of Justice is coming for Tennessee. The DOJ filed a lawsuit challenging one of the state’s new anti-LGBTQ+ laws “that denies necessary medical care to youth based solely on who they are,” according to a statement issued Wednesday. The DOJ refers to Tennessee Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), which was passed in February and bans medical gender-affirming care to transgender youth under the age of 18. The Human Rights Campaign said at the time that Tennessee had passed more anti-LGBTQ+ legislation than any other state. The federal government is asking a United States District Court to issue an immediate order to prevent the law from going into effect on July 1, 2023, alleging that SB 1 violates the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause by discriminating on the basis of both sex and transgender status. “No person should be denied access to necessary medical care just because of their transgender status,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
