West Virginia v. B. P. J. · ¶125
First, transgender status is not a suspect class requiring heightened equal-protection scrutiny. United States v. Skrmetti, 605 U. S. 495, 547–557 (2025) (BARRETT, J., concurring). The class of people who claim transgender status could more accurately be described as people who are experiencing “gender dysphoria,” which is not a “discrete group.” Id., at 550–551 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also id., at 566–567 (ALITO, J., concurring and concurring in judgment). Because “gender dysphoria” is a mutable mental state that is the object of psychiatric treatment, it does not resemble the immutable characteristics on the basis of which our precedents have applied heightened scrutiny— race, sex, or national origin. Instead, gender dysphoria resembles other characteristics on the basis of which legislatures may classify with a merely rational basis. See, e.g., Heller v. Doe, 509 U.…Read in context ›
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