gender affirming care

The Bench held that the wife’s refusal to cohabit with a husband who had openly taken another woman as wife and fathered children with her could not be treated as cruelty or desertion.

India's maternity law has been significantly reformed by the Supreme Court, striking down a discriminatory three-month age limit for adoptive mothers' leave. This landmark ruling recognizes that the crucial bonding period for adopted children isn't bound by a strict timeline, ensuring substantive justice and dignity for all mothers. The judgment champions a broader understanding of parenthood and caregiving.

An unusual FBI operation saw a US government aircraft fly to Cuba to recover a 10-year-old child from Utah in an international parental kidnapping case. The child's transgender parent and partner are accused of taking the child abroad, allegedly for gender transition surgery. Cuban authorities assisted in the child's safe return.

Telangana's health department has significantly boosted infrastructure over three years, establishing NCD clinics for 50 lakh patients and day-care cancer centers in districts. Renal care has expanded with 16 new dialysis centers, while Maitri Clinics offer dedicated services for the transgender community. Free IVF services have also been introduced, alongside a pain clinic and an enhanced ambulance network.

The US Education Department has ended agreements protecting transgender students in six institutions, reversing prior interpretations of Title IX. This move, criticized by advocacy groups, removes requirements for staff training on preferred pronouns and bathroom access based on gender identity. Some districts are rolling back protections, while others reaffirm their commitment to LGBTQ+ students.

The FBI is soliciting public assistance to identify healthcare providers offering gender-affirming care to transgender youth, aligning with the administration's child protection efforts. This initiative follows executive orders acknowledging only two biological sexes and restricting gender-affirming care access for minors, amidst ongoing legal challenges to state-level bans and coinciding with Pride Month.

Transgender residents in Delhi worry the proposed law could threaten self-identification, legal recognition, and access to jobs and education.

The US House of Representatives has passed a Republican-backed bill that would criminalize gender-affirming care for minors nationwide. The legislation, which targets medical treatments and puberty blockers, now moves to the Senate. Supporters claim it protects children, while critics argue it attacks transgender and intersex individuals' bodily autonomy.

Transgender individuals in India are raising alarms over proposed amendments to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Concerns center on the removal of self-perceived gender identity as a basis for obtaining official documents, potentially undermining hard-won rights and creating significant anxiety within the community. Activists are urging lawmakers to withdraw the bill.

Hailey Davidson has sued the LPGA Tour and USGA after being denied entry into a US Women’s Open qualifier under new gender rules. She says the policy unfairly blocks transgender women like her. The LPGA says the rule protects fair competition. The case will now be decided in court as both sides stand firm.

North Carolina's new laws, passed after the General Assembly overrode the governor's vetoes and supported by GOP supermajorities, bars medical professionals from providing hormone therapy, puberty-blocking drugs, and gender-transition procedures to anyone under 18. Instead, transgender minors could have hormone treatment or surgical procedures only if it deemed necessary to avoid irreversible harm.

A 20-year-old Californian, Kaya Clementine Breen, is suing two doctors and a hospital, alleging they prematurely transitioned her gender as a minor. Breen claims she received inadequate information about risks and irreversible procedures. This coincides with a Supreme Court case challenging Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, highlighting the national debate surrounding this issue.

President Trump has signed an executive order limiting gender transition procedures for individuals under 19, including restrictions on puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgeries. This order ends federal funding for such procedures and aims to enforce laws against these medical practices. Trump labels gender-affirming care as barbaric and medically destructive.

The Supreme Court will hear the case of 'United States v. Skrmetti', challenging Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors. This case has ignited a national debate, with lawyer Chase Strangio arguing that gender identity can emerge as early as age two, sparking strong reactions, including condemnation from Donald Trump Jr. Over 20 states have enacted similar bans.

New York Attorney General Letitia James warned hospitals that halting gender-affirming care for minors would violate state anti-discrimination laws, contradicting an executive order from President Trump restricting federal funding for such treatments. Some hospitals have paused these treatments pending the order review.

The Trump administration released a report advocating behavioral therapy over gender-affirming care for transgender youth, questioning established medical standards. Medical experts have criticized the report as inaccurate, while the administration defends its stance by prioritizing child protection and scientific rigor. This move has sparked concerns about the politicization of healthcare and potential harm to transgender youth seeking medical support.

Worcester has become a sanctuary city for transgender and gender-diverse individuals by passing a resolution to protect this community. The city council's decision is a direct response to Trump’s recent executive orders aiming to restrict gender-affirming care, addressing broader issues like homelessness and violence against transgender people.

Elon Musk’s opposition to gender-affirming care for minors is rooted in personal and ideological factors, particularly his estranged relationship with his transgender daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson. Vivian, now 20, has publicly criticized Musk as an absent and unsupportive father who berated her for her femininity and queerness. Musk claims he was “tricked” into approving her medical treatment, a claim she refutes, crediting the care as lifesaving. Their conflict mirrors broader cultural debates over transgender rights, with Musk leveraging his platform to denounce progressive policies. Vivian, meanwhile, has left the U.S., citing concerns over LGBTQ+ rights and seeking autonomy from her father.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson compared bans on gender-affirming care to interracial marriage prohibitions during a Supreme Court hearing, sparking debate. Critics argue her analogy conflates distinct legal issues, as Loving v. Virginia addressed racial discrimination under strict scrutiny, while gender-affirming care involves medical and ethical complexities, subject to differing standards of review. The comparison also highlights disparities in public acceptance; interracial marriage is widely supported, while gender-affirming care remains contentious. Some view Jackson's remarks as judicial activism, framing the issue as a civil rights imperative. The debate underscores tensions between state authority, evolving public opinion, and courts' role in safeguarding equality.

Memphis obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Susan Lacy is challenging Tennessee's 2023 ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The Johns Hopkins graduate and founder of Modern Gynecology & Reproductive Health provides care for hundreds of transgender patients, advocating for their rights amidst restrictive legislation. Beyond her practice, Dr. Lacy is a community activist, serving on environmental and public health boards.

The Texas Supreme Court has allowed a state law banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors to take effect while it hears a legal challenge to the statute. The law includes a ban on puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries for transgender minors. The ruling came after a judge had initially blocked the law in response to challenges by families of transgender children and doctors.

At its heart, the case revolves around Tennessee’s Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), which prohibits minors from accessing gender-affirming medical care. The law imposes civil penalties on medical providers who violate these restrictions. While surgeries are not central to this case, the focus lies on the bans on puberty blockers and hormone treatments aimed at aligning a minor’s physical development with their gender identity.

Elon Musk sparked controversy by suggesting a ban on transgender hormone drugs, linking them to violent behavior, following the arrest of a trans person accused of sexual assault. He claimed these drugs drive extreme violence. Musk's statement has intensified the debate around transgender healthcare, access, and potential risks, especially given his past criticisms of gender-affirming care and the 'woke' ideology.

AIIMS to start centre for excellence for transgender healthcare in collaboration with ministries and NACO; aims to provide holistic care to transgender people; planned to develop a replicable system; lack of trained care providers remains a major hurdle; workshop offers advanced gender-affirmative care course; AIIMS conducted 12 surgeries last year; welcomed by transgender community.

Kansas City's Children's Mercy Hospital is battling against Missouri's Attorney General Andrew Bailey over demands for patient records on gender-affirming care, according to a lawsuit. Bailey is seeking 54 investigative requests — including documentation of hormone-blockers prescriptions and surgeries for gender-affirming care — from the hospital, which is not accused of any crime.

Chase Strangio, a transgender attorney with the ACLU, will make history by arguing before the US Supreme Court in United States v Skrmetti, challenging Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors. The case will determine if the law violates the Equal Protection Clause, with significant implications for civil rights and transgender youth across America.