Pride at Work condemns Supreme Court decision on trans healthcare

‘These attacks on our freedom are strategies of billionaires and the MAGA politicians they fund to distract from their anti-worker agenda’

The following is from Pride at Work and has been edited for clarity:

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 20, 2025) — Across race, place, and genders, we all want our kids to have the freedom to be themselves and pursue their dreams. And we know that decisions about medical care belong in the hands of our families and our doctors, not politicians. In Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling in L.W. v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court failed to protect our freedoms and allowed extremist legislators in Tennessee to strip away transgender youth’s healthcare. Denying someone medical care on the basis of sex or gender is a violation of our constitutional rights.

These attacks on our freedom are strategies of billionaires and the MAGA politicians they fund to distract from their anti-worker agenda to bust unions, lower wages, and make everyone’s healthcare more expensive. We cannot forget that their goal is to hoard the profits made off of our labor. They exploit unfamiliarity with transgender people and spread lies to fuel divisions among the working class.

Pride at Work members, families, faith leaders and healthcare providers rallied outside the Supreme Court in 2024. Photo: Pride at Work

But we aren’t falling for it. When we see these tactics for the intentional distractions they are, we can join together across our differences to ensure we all have the freedom to make decisions about our own bodies and be our authentic selves. Whenever a greedy few have tried to pick and choose who counts, there have always been those of us who showed up for each other and built welcoming communities. From the Pullman Sleeping Cars to Stonewall to Selma, we know the power of everyday people joining together and protecting each other is how we win freedom for us all.

Pride At Work, AFL-CIO stands with transgender, non-binary, and gender-diverse people of all ages who deserve the freedom to keep healthcare decisions between themselves and their doctors. These decisions should be made based on medicine, science, and the physical and mental wellbeing of the patient, not the extremist views of MAGA politicians. Trans kids and all of us deserve a brighter future, and we are committed to creating it.

Pride at Work is the AFL-CIO constituency group uplifting trans and queer workers across the labor movement. Pride at Work seeks full equality without restrictions or barriers for LGBTQIA+ individuals in our workplaces, unions, and communities to create a Labor Movement that cherishes diversity, promotes inclusion, encourages openness, and ensures safety & dignity.