The US Supreme Court on Wednesday hears a challenge to a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors, a case with repercussions for similar state prohibitions across the country.

The justices are considering whether a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause.

The issue of transgender rights animated the presidential campaign. Now it has made its way to the Supreme Court, and in more ways than one.

Tennessee’s attorney general is set to defend the state’s gender affirming care ban for minors in the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday against challengers who say the 2023 law endangers children. While attorneys for the plaintiffs claim the law violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause,

For Chase Strangio, the professional path that’s led to this moment – in which he’ll have 15 minutes to present an argument defending gender-affirming care for trans youth before the Supreme Court – cannot be unwoven from his life outside the courtroom.