Outside of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., last week, Grinnell College alum Chase Strangio addressed a cheering crowd who waved transgender pride flags.
Minutes earlier, Strangio had made his case before the nine Supreme Court Justices that a Tennessee law banning certain gender-affirming care for transgender minors was unconstitutional and should be struck down.
With his words, the former Iowa college student made history as the first openly transgender person to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“They claim there are no protections based on sex for the transgender people who, like myself, rely on this medical care,” Strangio, who is co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project, told rallying supporters Dec. 4 in D.C., “so I’m just humbled and honored to be before this court to make the simple case that the Constitution protects us too.”
Attorney and Grinnell College grad Chase Strangio attends the Hollywood Reporter’s 3rd annual “Raising our voices: Agents of change” event at Spago in Beverly Hills, California, on Sept. 11, 2024.
What are the stakes of this US Supreme Court case?
The case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, challenges a Tennessee law banning doctors from giving hormone therapy or puberty blockers to adolescents seeking treatment for gender dysphoria. The Supreme Court is expected to give a decision sometime next year.
The ACLU and the Biden administration jointly represented three families and a Tennessee doctor who are challenging the 2023 law, saying it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Strangio presented oral arguments alongside U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.
Experts say the case could affect pending Supreme Court decisions that challenge the rights of transgender individuals in the U.S. Iowa is among the states that has passed a similar law prohibiting doctors from prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to transgender minors.
“I am so honored to represent transgender adolescents who spent years thinking about how to best take care of their suffering children, made decisions that were the best for their families with the recommendations of their doctors, only to have those decisions overridden and displaced by the government of Tennessee,” Strangio said.
Strangio said during the press conference that the Supreme Court arguments, which lasted more than two hours, “went as arguments go where you are being tested on the limits of your position.”
“At the end of the day, no matter what happens, we will keep fighting,” Strangio said.
The Register reached out to Strangio for an interview but did not receive a response.
Chase Strangio ‘leading legal expert’ for rights of transgender people
With the ACLU since 2013, Strangio, 42, has led legal strategy to counter anti-transgender laws passed in state legislatures. His work contributed to landmark Supreme Court rulings, including the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage.
Strangio also was on the ACLU’s team that challenged then-former President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender individuals from serving in the military and the Supreme Court ruling on Bostock v. Clayton County, which protects workers against sexuality or gender identity discrimination.
ACLU legal director Cecillia Wang said Strangio is the nation’s leading legal expert on the rights of transgender people.
“He brings to the lectern not only brilliant constitutional lawyering, but also the tenacity and heart of a civil rights champion,” Wang said. “Our clients couldn’t have a better advocate in this case.”
More: Supreme Court to weigh key transgender care case: What’s at stake for minors
Grinnell professor: Strangio always fights for the rights of others
Sarah Purcell, a professor of history at Grinnell and mentor to Strangio when he was a student, said the opportunity to present arguments to the Supreme Court seemed like a natural progression of his career.
“It seems like a natural thing because he has done a huge amount to speak on behalf of various ages of trans people and all kinds of trans rights issues in all different levels of courts,” Purcell said.
Strangio, originally from Massachusetts, graduated from Grinnell College in 2004 and then received his law degree from Northeastern University in Boston.
Chase Strangio attends the TIME100 Summit 2022 at Jazz at Lincoln Center on June 7, 2022, in New York City.
He returned to Grinnell College in 2018 as a commencement speaker and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws.
“Coming to Grinnell still very much feels like coming home. It was here that I learned how to love, where I learned how to live authentically and think critically,” Strangio said in 2018.
Purcell said she recognized Strangio was articulate and smart when he was an undergraduate at Grinnell.
“Chase really defends his values and existence and fights for the rights of other people all the time, every day, every year, and so this is a high expression of that that I know is really important,” Purcell said. “It’s a big affirmation of the work he’s already been doing, which is, unfortunately, all the more necessary.”
Lawyer and transgender rights activist Chase Strangio and his partner Kimberly Drew leave the U.S. Supreme Court after Strangio argued a transgender rights case before the high court on Dec. 4, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Fredo Rivera, an assistant professor of art history at Grinnell, was an undergraduate student with Strangio at Grinnell when they organized several events by bringing experts and promoting discussion about same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights for Grinnell students.
“I just think Chase is a brilliant mind and the work he’s doing is critically important at the national level,” Rivera said, adding that Strangio’s accomplishments have left a lasting impact on Grinnell’s LGBTQ+ students.
USA Today reporter Maureen Groppe contributed to this report.
Sabine Martin covers politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at sabine.martin@gannett.com or by phone at (515) 284-8132. Follow her on X at @sabinefmartin.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Grinnell alum Chase Strangio first transgender lawyer to face SCOTUS