Source: Civic Media
Jun 18, 2025, 11:23 PM CST
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It’s being described as a painful setback even as the LGBTQ+ community continues to celebrate Pride Month. The U.S. Supreme Court decided to uphold Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth late Wednesday.
Advocates say this decision not only denies equal protection under the law, but places trans children at grave risk. Abigail Swetz, Executive Director of Fair Wisconsin, the state’s leading LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, joined Maggie Daun, host of The Maggie Daun Show, to offer both clarity and comfort to Wisconsin families.
We have gender-affirming care here. We will welcome you.
Abigail Swetz, Fair Wisconsin
“The most important thing to know is that this decision has no impact here,” Swetz explains. “Wisconsin does not have a ban on gender-affirming care. Trans youth in our state should continue to have access to medically necessary care.”
Daun says she reached out to her own friends across the LGBTQ+ community as news of the decision broke.
“The Supreme Court said that our nation’s promise of equal treatment under the law doesn’t apply to trans people,” she says. “It’s heartbreaking.”
However, both Daun and Swetz warn of the ruling’s broader effects. Families in other states are already making painful choices, including relocating to safer states like Wisconsin.
“If you have trans kids and you don’t live in a state that supports them — come to Wisconsin,” Swetz says. “We have gender-affirming care here. We will welcome you.”
Listen to the complete segment here — starting at the halfway mark:
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Gender-affirming care, Swetz explains to Daun, is individualized, evidence-based treatment for gender dysphoria that drastically improves mental health outcomes. Denying care can have devastating consequences. A 2024 peer-reviewed study in Nature Human Behavior found anti-trans laws like Tennessee’s correlate with a 72% increase in suicide attempts among transgender youth.
The conversation turns to news the Trump administration intends to defund the LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention hotline — the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — within 30 days.
“The cruelty is just unbelievable,” Daun says. “This isn’t about protecting kids. This is about erasure and power.”
Swetz agrees.
“LGBTQ+ youth don’t struggle because of who they are — they struggle because of the toxic environment of homophobia, transphobia, and government policies that tell them they aren’t valued,” Swetz explains.
Despite these mounting threats, there is a message of hope.
“We stand with the LGBTQ+ community and every trans youth in Wisconsin and beyond,” Daun says. “We see you. We love you. And we will keep fighting for you.”
“If anyone begins to experience barriers to care in Wisconsin,” Swetz adds, “We need to know. We are here to advocate for you.”
And even as political forces attack the most vulnerable, Daun and Swetz stress how each of us can take action — by being a safe, visible, supportive adult in a trans child’s life.
“When you wear a rainbow pin or flag, you’re signaling: ‘You’re safe here,’” Swetz says. “And that may be the lifeline a trans kid needs to breathe.”
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