It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Chase Strangio. He’s gone from preparing to argue a case before the Supreme Court, making history in the process, to preparing for a second Donald Trump presidency, and now contending with the realities of the new era.
As a result, he’s had little time to dwell on being the first out trans person to argue a case before the Supreme Court, which he did in December 2024. “I have not really had time to reflect on the experience,” he tells PinkNews. “Overall, though, I felt very supported by my team, and I felt as ready as I could have.”
A decision on the landmark case – LW v. Skrmetti/US v. Skrmetti – is not expected until June.
Chase Strangio, the co-director of the LGBTQ & HIV Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued on behalf of three families and a medical provider that Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming hormonal therapies for trans youth violates sex discrimination laws.
Meanwhile, Tennessee’s Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti, asked for the Court to use its 2022 ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Whole Women’s Health, which overturned abortion rights, to also ban gender-affirming care.
The state argued that its ban doesn’t discriminate on the basis of sex, despite the healthcare in question being allowed for one sex and not another. The expectation appears to be that the case is likely to go in favour of Skrmetti. Strangio, however, remains hopeful.
Strangio’s journey to the Supreme Court is documented in Heightened Scrutiny, which is playing at the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. The film, a powerful call to action against an oppressive wave of bigotry and injustice, candidly follows Strangio as he prepares for the case, his interactions with trans youth, and his reaction to the 2024 Presidential election.
“While I was actually presenting arguments before the Court, I was only thinking about the best answers to the Justices’ questions,” Strangio shares as to whether he was mindful of the significance of his being there in the moment. “Obviously in the lead up to the argument there was a lot of focus on it being the first time an openly trans lawyer would be presenting argument before the Court, but I really tried to keep my head down and my focus on the task at hand.”
Between his work on the Skrmetti case and previously challenging anti-trans bathroom bans, and Trump’s first trans military ban, Strangio has positioned himself as a leading LGBTQ+ figure, attracting a level of attention he’s not entirely comfortable with and that is at odds with his “good-Scorpio commitment to privacy.”
At one point in the film Strangio admits what he is preparing for is in “some ways my nightmare.” It struck a note, that it’s almost inherent for queer people to confront the things in life that scare us and to push through.
“I realised that my queerness and transness were things to celebrate”
Strangio agrees. “I do think that being queer and [my] transness has helped me conquer fear in all aspects of my life. At a young age I looked at myself and at the world and thought there was something incompatible, that there was no place for me.
“Over time, as I realised that my queerness and transness were things to celebrate and made the world more expansive not more constrained, I also was able to find possibility in many other places.”
During the course of our interview, US District Judge Ana Reyes blocks Trump’s new trans military ban saying it is “soaked in animus” and flat out discriminatory. So, it would appear the legal system is working in delaying Trump’s actions. But in other interviews, Strangio has poured doubt on the legal system’s ability to fight him.
“I think that there will never be a singular way forward and that overreliance on law and legal strategies ultimately just builds the power of the government,” he clarifies. And in terms of a way forward? “I hope that we can use law as a tool to delay harms so that people can build power and generate resources within communities.”
Heightened Scrutiny also draws painstaking attention to the level of influence the media has when it comes to anti-trans legislation. It’s something Strangio doesn’t see improving anytime soon; in fact, he predicts an escalation of it. “It is going to take a concerted effort to shift the narrative away from one that persistently demonises trans people,” he adds.
The demonisation of trans people was certainly evident during the last election, with Republicans targeting Kamala Harris over her support for the community. Like many, Strangio was not surprised by the election result but admits, “I was devastated,” knowing what the administration had in store for the trans community.
Perhaps more upsetting was in the aftermath of the election the turn by some Democrats, usually pro-LGBTQ+, who began blaming the party’s support for trans people for aiding in Trump’s victory. It’s a turn Strangio has spoken out about himself, his response now – a mixture of anger and resolve – snipes at both sides equally: “Any impulse to strip a group of people of dignity and legal protection will always backfire. I am dismayed but undeterred by all of the attacks on our community. We will find the people willing to fight with us and we will fight for a better world for everyone.”
There’s a lot of reasons why people generally, not just LGBTQ+ people, in America could feel a sense of hopelessness right now. Strangio understands why but offers a message of hope.
“I just hope that people find the people and systems and support they need to sustain. Mariame Kaba, my favourite person to follow and seek inspiration from, posted a quote from Seamus Heaney today that was grounding for me. ‘Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is a good worth working for.’ I believe in that good worth working for.”
Heightened Scrutiny will screen at BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival on 29 March. Ticket information is available here.
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