Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he believes that Tennessee Solicitor General Matt Rice strongly defended Senate Bill 1 (SB1) in front of the Supreme Court. SB1 is Tennessee’s state law that bans irreversible gender transition-inducing puberty blockers and hormones for minors.
Governor Bill Lee signed SB1 into law last year, which forbids healthcare providers from performing or administering to underage children “gender-affirming” medical procedures or treatments – including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and sex-change surgeries – for the purpose of enabling the child to identify with the opposite gender.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case challenging the law, United States v. Skrmetti, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), families of transgender children, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Skrmetti said he was “really proud” of Rice, who argued the case and defended the state law.
“[Rice] was fantastic. I have friends who have advocated multiple times before the court who have been raving to me about what an exceptional job he did in tough circumstances. He was hit pretty hard and he stood his ground. He was extremely articulate and thoughtful. I was really proud,” Skrmetti said on Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“I feel absolutely confident that we put the best possible case on in defense of Tennessee’s law, and I’m so proud of the team that worked on this case. We did a terrific job for all the people of the state,” Skrmetti added.
Skrmetti further admired how Rice handled “tough questions” from the Supreme Court justices “very ably” and was “unfazed” by the “intimidating” setting.
“We thought there would be tough questions coming. This is a very emotional and very significant disagreement. So it wasn’t a shock. But it’s still pretty jarring. These are Supreme Court justices…aggressively on these important issues. That’s very intimidating, but he was cool as a cucumber. He answered very ably, I thought, and he was able to make our points in a concise and efficient fashion. There’s going to be some disagreement. If there wasn’t, the case probably wouldn’t be up at the court. Despite the very intimidating circumstances, he was completely unfazed, and I thought he stayed on track and did a really good job engaging with them,” Skrmetti said.
Regarding the substance of the arguments made in front of the justices, Skrmetti said Rice’s articulation about how the law does not discriminate based on sex was “exceptional.”
“Sex discrimination is a big legal question here, and I think Matt got some very tough questions trying to line up how the discrimination law generally works and asking how it was possible that we could say that this didn’t fit in the pre-existing boxes that are clearly discrimination under the Constitution. I thought he did an exceptional job articulating our position,” Skrmetti explained.
“We think we have strong arguments here, and the core of the argument is you’re not just treating boys and girls differently. It’s not like you hand testosterone to one and not the other. Anytime a kid or anyone is given a drug, they’re given a drug for a specific medical purpose and you’re looking not just at the sex of the person, but how the drug is going to affect them and what conditions you’re treating. I thought Matt did a fine job of articulating how this wasn’t just sex discrimination, it’s just medical treatment based on the fact that boys and girls are physiologically different,” Skrmetti added.
The nation’s highest court is expected to decide in United States v. Skrmetti by June or July 2025.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Jonathan Skrmetti” by Tennessee Attorney General. Background Photo “Supreme Court” by Tennessee Attorney General.
