Why Transgender Children Should Have the Right to Block their Own Puberty with Court Authorization

Abstract

Transgender children who wish to begin hormone suppression therapy are required to obtain their parents’ consent. This Comment argues that children should be able to access such treatments with court authorization in situations where their parents do not consent to the treatment. Gender identity is protected under the fundamental right to liberty because it is part of the person’s autonomy of self. Additionally, the United States Supreme Court’s Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence indicates that the right to make decisions pertaining to one’s sexuality are within the ambit of the right to privacy. For this reason, children have a right to privacy that includes the ability to decide whether to take hormone suppressants. The State’s interests in restricting this privacy right are not significant so as to render the parental consent requirement valid. Therefore, States must provide children with a judicial bypass procedure whereby they can access hormone suppression treatments without parental consent.