On Wednesday, I was researching a piece about nonfiction graphic novels when news hit that the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
The 6-3 decision could have sweeping implications for the transgender community as it suggests the potential for further rollbacks of transgender rights across the country.
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The book I’d been reading was “Trans History: From Ancient Times to the Present Day” by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett. The YA tome aims to dispel myths and misinformation about trans people by offering an accessible look at gender diversity throughout history and short bios of notable figures.
An image from “Trans History: From Ancient Times to the Present Day” by Alex L. Combs & Andrew Eakett. (Courtesy of Candlewick Press)Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion that “courts should not assume that ‘self-described experts’ are correct” about gender-affirming care.
The courts don’t have to: Actual verified medical experts overwhelmingly support gender-affirming care.
The American Medical Association supports it, and in a co-signed statement the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American Pediatric Society, American Psychiatric Association, Endocrine Society and National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners all denounced the Supreme Court decision.
This was a historic decision affecting the lives of Americans, so I reached out the authors of “Trans History.”
“It’s extremely devastating for trans kids,” says “Trans History” co-author Eakett the day after the decision. “It’s not completely unexpected, but it is disappointing, but that’s kind of how it’s been going lately with the Supreme Court.”
Eakett, like his husband and co-creator Combs, is trans, and he says forcing trans people to go through puberty without treatment can cause irreversible damage. And he notes that the Supreme Court doesn’t prohibit use of these same treatments for other conditions, such as, precocious puberty, but if it’s for gender dysphoria the court is making a specific distinction.
These are medical decisions for families and doctors, he says, not lawmakers.
“Parents know what their kids need. The science is there that we know saves lives. Minors have to go through a lot to get actual medical treatment for gender dysphoria. It’s not done carelessly at all, and for the government to step in and prohibit specific medical treatments for specific diagnoses that are supported by medical consensus over decades and decades is extremely, I would say, irresponsible,” he says. “It’s picking on kids.”
Calm and soft-spoken, Eakett says he’s not a spokesperson for the community, but he offers an opinion about this latest Supreme Court decision.
“It opens up a legal avenue to discriminate against trans adult health care, too,” he says.
Eakett, who spent five years working on the book with Combs, says he refuses to abandon hope even as he admits that progress is “more complicated and a lot messier” than some unbroken march forward.
“Oftentimes, this is how history goes for marginalized groups – trans people, specifically. It’s several steps forward, a few steps back,” he says.
“Activists and people on the margins don’t generally see the version of the world that they hope for in their lifetime,” says Eakett. “Sometimes we have to hunker down and survive and find joy in smaller things.”
An image from “Trans History: From Ancient Times to the Present Day” by Alex L. Combs & Andrew Eakett. (Courtesy of Candlewick Press)The years working on the book have provided him some perspective on events, such as when he talks about scapegoating the less powerful.
”Sometimes it’s immigrants – usually it’s immigrants on some level – sometimes it’s queer people or trans people. Sometimes it’s women,” he says. “It’s all part of the same problem.”
“Trans people have always been a part of humanity and sometimes our presence is considered challenging, or is used as a convenient scapegoat, for people who want to consolidate power.”
“But that doesn’t mean that we just have to resign ourselves to despair,” he says. “We’ve made a lot of really great progress in the past few decades. It’s not all undone just because the federal government is trying to make our lives harder.”
He counsels compassion and being kind to one another, and he says there are reasons to remain hopeful.
“There are still so many more trans people who are out and who know they’re trans than 10, 15, 20 years ago. And it makes a big difference. There are a lot of people who aren’t trans who have trans loved ones who are supportive,” he says.
“They can’t undo the fact that people know we exist, and that society at large knows we exist,” says Eakett. “It’s not going to be as simple as just shoving us back in the closet.”
For more about the book, go to Candlewick Press.
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