Interesting Times with Ross Douthat The Shifting Politics of Transgender Rights
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Dec 4, 2025 
Chase Strangio, a prominent transgender rights lawyer with the ACLU, joins to delve into the current state of transgender rights in America. They discuss the implications of high-profile legal cases like Bostock v. Clayton County and United States v. Skrmetti on workplace protections and healthcare for transgender youth. Strangio shares insights on defining gender identity and the complexities surrounding sports participation, advocating for nuanced approaches over blanket bans. The conversation also touches on activism's evolution and the impact of public opinion.
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Textualist Path To Employment Protections
- Title VII's plain words can protect gay and transgender employees without defining sex precisely.
- Chase Strangio explains Justice Gorsuch's textualist Bostock opinion that found firing for being trans is discrimination because of sex.
Why Care Bans Raised Equal Protection Issues
- The Tennessee bans targeted medications for gender dysphoria and raised equal protection questions.
- Strangio argued these laws used sex classifications because outcomes changed based on assigned sex at birth.
Statute Versus Constitution Matters
- Constitutional and statutory cases follow different interpretive frameworks, altering outcomes.
- Strangio notes Bostock (statutory) succeeded where the constitutional equal-protection claim in Scrimetti failed.