Tennessee is allowed to enforce a ban on trans healthcare, a drag ban is challenged in Montana, and a Kansas attorney general sues to impose assigned sex on state IDs.
State Allowed to Enforce Ban on Trans Healthcare
According to the Associated Press, a federal appeals court on July 8 reversed a lower court ruling that had blocked the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, meaning that Tennessee is now allowed to enforce the ban.
The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, in a 2-1 ruling, granted the state’s emergency appeal. The majority wrote decisions on these types of policy should be left to lawmakers, not judges.
“Given the high stakes of these nascent policy deliberations — the long-term health of children facing gender dysphoria — sound government usually benefits from more rather than less debate,” wrote Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton.
Drag Ban Challenged in Federal Court
Photo via Pixabay.
What do a public-school teacher and a brewery have in common? According to Daily Montanan, they are part of 10 plaintiffs suing Montana in federal court regarding a law that bans public drag performances.
The lawsuit was filed on July 6 and states that the law not only targets the LGBTQ community, but classroom activities that require costuming, such as school plays.
“Worse still, an entity that receives any state funds – [for example] any art museum or independent theater – cannot display a live or prerecorded performance with essentially any sexual content, regardless of artistic merit and even if the audience is limited to adults,” the lawsuit stated. “HB 359’s penalty provisions are as confusing as they are draconian.”
AG Sues to Enforce Assigned Sex on State IDs
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach. Photo via ag.ks.gov.
According to Kansas Reflector, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a petition on July 7 asking the Shawnee County District Court to require the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles to enforce a recent law that took effect July 1 and requires the state to issue driver’s licenses and state documents that reflect sex assigned at birth.
This comes after Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly stated that gubernatorial agencies will not be enforcing Senate Bill 180.
“[Kelly] does not possess the power that English monarchs claimed prior to the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688, namely, the power to suspend the operation of statutes,” Kobach wrote in the filing. “Indeed, the Declaration of Independence was in part a reaction to this practice.”
The governor’s office gave a comment regarding the pending lawsuit.
“While the attorney general has a well-documented record of wasteful and political lawsuits, Kelly is faithfully executing the laws of the state and has directed her administration to as well,” said Brianna Johnson, a spokeswoman for the governor. “We look forward to the Kansas Department of Revenue being able to present its case in court.”
