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The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) has condemned the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wednesday decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti, which allows states to ban access to gender-affirming care for trans youth.
“The Supreme Court’s decision today will irreparably harm transgender youth by allowing states to deny them the kind of care they need for their physical and mental well-being,” said Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, the UUA’s president. “As a part of our faith tradition, Unitarian Universalists embrace transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender diverse people. This is a central expression of our faith. We also believe that denying healthcare to the trans community is a moral violation.
“We send our love and care to all the trans youth and their families who are directly affected by this ruling—we will keep fighting for you.”
“We send our love and care to all the trans youth and their families who are directly affected by this ruling—we will keep fighting for you. We will continue to work with and on behalf of the trans and nonbinary community to ensure that their dignity as human beings and rights are protected across this country,” Betancourt said.
The case arose from a challenge to a bill that the State of Tennessee passed in 2023 that sought to prevent young transgender people from receiving gender-affirming healthcare. The law was challenged by transgender youth, their families, and a doctor who treats transgender youth, who argued that the legislation violates the right to equal protection guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the law did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. The three liberal members of the court, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented.
The decision came as thousands of UUs gathered in person in Baltimore, Maryland, and online for this year’s UUA General Assembly, the annual business meeting of Unitarian Universalists. In response to the high court’s Wednesday decision, a special GA session, “Skrmetti Case: Information, Misinformation, and Implications” was added to Thursday’s agenda, led by civil rights lawyer Sam Ames and UUA General Counsel Adrienne Walker. The pair explained the intricacies of the decision and took questions from the audience.
“We cannot cede the ground of the sacred.”
“We cannot cede the ground of faith, religion” Ames said. “We cannot cede the ground of the sacred.”
The session was followed by a workshop, “Building Trans Justice: Safety and Belonging.”
The case will have widespread implications across the country. In 2025, 115 anti-trans state bills affecting healthcare, education, sports, and more have passed so far, according to the Trans Legislation Tracker, and 940 more are under consideration. The Skrmetti ruling does not prevent states from passing laws to protect access to gender-affirming care, as a number of states have done, nor does it prevent challenges to anti-trans laws based on other grounds.
Unitarian Universalists at the 2024 UUA General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in support of a Business Resolution that embraces transgender, nonbinary, intersex, and gender-diverse people as a fundamental expression of UU religious values. Nearly 92 percent of delegates voted to approve the resolution. Business resolutions set the UUA’s core commitment; once passed, they become part of the UUA’s work. The 2024 business resolution was the first one adopted by UUs in support of transgender equity, although other statements of support passed in prior assemblies.
The UUA has created new and enhanced resources and programming for this work, including creating a fulltime, dedicated staff position, the transgender support specialist. Jami A. Yandle is serving in that role to coordinate large-scale, cross-staff missional work toward creating justice for the trans, non-binary, and intersex community.
This religious commitment remains fundamental to the UUA’s ministry and outreach, and the UUA and its member congregations will continue to work closely with partners to advocate for these shared values in the months ahead, as the full implications of this case are understood, according to Betancourt.
As stated in the resolution: “The imperative to care for those most at risk, especially due to systems of injustice, is one of our defining religious commitments throughout our UU history. These systems imperil the basic human right to experience freedom from discrimination in all areas of life, including healthcare, education, housing, employment, free expression, and beyond. Denial of medical care and basic human rights causes profound damage and trauma, and is a violation of our core religious principles. Securing these rights for LGBTQI+ people and communities, whose rights are now at risk, is essential for their lifelong development and thriving.”
The resolution emphasized that hundreds of new laws across the country seeking to restrict access to gender-affirming experiences and healthcare for youth cause “painful impacts to social, intellectual and emotional wellbeing … [We must] protect and honor our transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive youth members and their families as they go through the stages of spiritual and personal identity.”