04l

04l NoneSix Canadian writers were the recipients of the prestigious Canada Prizes award in recognition of their inspiring, impactful and transformative scholarly books. Deanna Reder, professor of Indigenous Studies and English at Simon Fraser University, was recognized for her book, Autobiography as Indigenous Intellectual Tradition: Cree and Métis âcimisowina , published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press. By exploring unknown, little known and neglected works by a range of Cree and Métis writers from the 1890s to the 1980s, Reder fills a Canadian literary gap. Her unique monograph introduces readers to the works of significant Cree and Métis authors like Métis author, playwright, filmmaker and Elder, Maria Campbell; Canadian Cree Anglican clergyman Edward Ahenakew, who transcribed stories and myths of Indigenous peoples of Western Canada; and James Brady, a famous Métis political activist, leader and photographer who mysteriously disappeared while prospecting in Saskatchewan in 1967. Reder’s book reveals a rich array of Cree and Métis, or nêhiyawak, writings interwoven with the authors’ life experiences. Using Cree concepts to understand texts ranging from journals, manuscripts and sermons, to unfinished, unpublished, censored or limited circulation short stories and novels, Reder sheds light on the richness of Indigenous life and philosophies. “Through my research, I found that understanding who you are, and who you’re related to, is foundational to Indigenous understandings of the world,” said Reder. “The book provides understudied and undervalued evidence of the longstanding autobiographical practices that are engrained in Cree and Métis, and these life stories serve as an intergenerational conduit to pass on invaluable knowledge,” she added. Despite Canada having the largest wolf population in the world, Stephanie Rutherford , associate professor in the School of the Environment at Trent University, is the first to explore the social history of wolves in her book, Villain, Vermin, Icon, Kin: Wolves and the Making of Canada , published by McGill–Queen’s University Press. The revelatory work underscores how Canada was largely made through relationships with animals and offers a model for more ethical ways of interacting with wildlife in the face of a global biodiversity crisis. Rutherford’s work delves into the range of emotions and changing relationships Canadians have with wolves spanning the late the 1800s to the present. While early settlers were afraid of wolves and the prospect of being eaten by them, by the 1920s, wolves were perceived as vermin targeted for elimination. Then, the 1950s saw an emerging trend towards conservation as people began recognizing the value of wolves in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Today, public anxiety over wolves is heightened due to the growing prevalence of coywolves — coyote-wolf hybrids — in urban areas. Villain, Vermin, Icon, Kin: Wolves and the Making of Canada helps people learn to co-exist with, rather than dominate, wildlife by learning from Indigenous ways. “I undertook this work because I was interested in understanding the level of emotions people feel when it comes to wolves. What is it about this animal that generates either deep love or deep hate?” said Rutherford. Celeste E. Orr, assistant professor of Sociology and the Wendy J. Robbins Professor in Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of New Brunswick and first-time author, won for their book, Cripping Intersex , published by the University of British Columbia Press. This work explores the connection between intersex and disability, dismissing society’s common view of those whose anatomy doesn’t fit into a traditional Western male-female sex binary as having a disability, disease or disorder that must be cured by medical intervention. Orr points to studies showing that medical procedures done non-consensually on intersex infants or youth often lead to them having short or long-term disabilities including sterilization and increased infection, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. Drawing attention to societal discrimination and oppression against intersex people, Orr argues those negative views and actions are rooted in racism, ableism, queer phobia and colonialism. “My book demonstrates that there is a concerted eugenic effort aimed at eradicating intersex people and intersex variations. The hope is that this work will help combat the ableism that fuels interphobia — discrimination against people who have intersex traits — and contribute to ongoing conversations that will help bring about a more equitable and just world.” Orr said. In addition to investigating medical treatment of intersex people, Cripping Intersex also reviews protocols and policies surrounding sports sex testing and segregation, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis, a reproductive screening technology that can accompany in vitro fertilization to detect “undesirable” characteristics. First-time author, Nicholas Cotton, teacher-researcher in literature at Collège Édouard-Montpetit with a doctorate in French-language literature from the Université de Montréal, was recognized for his book, Penser la «pervertibilité» – Avec Jacques Derrida , published by Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal. Cotton’s book, which translates to Thinking “pervertibility” – With Jacques Derrida, explores more than 80 titles by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, who developed the philosophy of deconstruction – a set of approaches to understand the relationship between text and meaning. Cotton explores the notion of “pervertibility,” one’s ability to be perverted or corrupted, which he found to be a common idea throughout Derrida’s writings. Cotton is the first to draw on these works from the second half of the 20th century to demonstrate the “perverse” devices of philosophical thought intertwined in the writings in order to give readers a better understanding of the world and its history. He also sheds light on how the philosopher described “pervertibility” – which takes several forms throughout his works and explores the link between this concept and psychoanalysis. “My book provides a better understanding of Derrida’s thought and style, and how both evolved,” Cotton said. “It makes a substantial contribution to current work in literature and philosophy, the fields of knowledge and practice to which the works primarily belong, but also in psychoanalysis and, more generally, to the history of ideas.” R egards sur le monde. Conflits éthiques et pensées romanesques dans la littérature française contemporaine , published by Les Presses de l’Université Laval, was authored by Pascal Riendeau, professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough. The English translation would be, Views of the world. Ethical conflicts and romantic thoughts in contemporary French literature . Riendeau found that ethical issues play an important role in many late-20th to early-21st century works of fiction. So, he set out to analyze the texts of five contemporary novelists in order to gain a better understanding of the function of ethics in the writings of our time. The result was a first-of-its-kind book that explores the work of contemporary authors Milan Kundera, Michel Houellebecq, Camille Laurens, Éric Chevillard and Pascal Quignard, focusing on themes, situations and discourses. Riendeau assesses the works’ structure and situations based on conflict and reflection. “I’m a literature professor who sincerely believes in the importance of literature – for pleasure, learning and above all, understanding the world. I think it’s highly relevant to take an interest in all art forms (literature, film, visual arts) in order to better interpret the state of the world around us,” Riendeau said. Presented by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences – a national non-profit voice for researchers in the humanities and social sciences in Canada – the award recognizes outstanding authors and works that provoke and inform national conversations on important topics while focusing attention on the contribution scholarly writing makes to Canadian society. Each author was awarded $4,000 with Robbins and Orr sharing the prize. The Prizes celebrate a range of voices, from first-time authors to established scholars, while championing French and English language works and amplifying a broad scope of perspectives across disciplines, in line with the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization. The Prizes are independently juried by the Scholarly Book Awards Academic Council. Support rabble today! We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year. rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today. Nick Seebruch, editor Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet. Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today. Nick Seebruch, editor Support rabble.ca

Nazarbayev University Crisis: Shigeo Katsu Demands Audit TransparencyChargers focused on avoiding a letdown and not a potential playoff berth in matchup with Patriots

2024 has been a year of rapidly cycling headlines - between the major pop culture moments and historic presidential election , however, there was one recurring theme: food recalls. From Boar's Head and McDonald's to cucumbers and carrots , outbreaks of illnesses caused by E. coli, listeria and salmonella have been the primary cause of the recurring recalls, some of which resulted in hospitalizations and deaths. While it may seem food recalls are on a dramatic uphill slope, data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shows no major uptick . Instead, it seems more likely that the public and health officials are simply paying more attention and getting better at identifying outbreaks quickly with advancing technology and improving testing methods. With a new recall seemingly every week, however, it can be difficult for the average consumer to keep up with the onslaught of food safety alerts. Here's a look back at some of the largest food-related recalls of 2024. Boar's Head In one of the most high-profile food recall cases of the last decade, a deadly listeria outbreak attributed to Boar's Head cold cuts, specifically its liverwurst, resulted in several deaths this summer. Holiday deals: Shop this season’s top products and sales curated by our editors. First reported on July 19 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the outbreak ultimately resulted in the recall of roughly 7.2 million pounds of product by Boar's Head. The company later blamed the outbreak on its liverwurst, which it has since discontinued. All told, the outbreak made 61 known people ill across 19 states, resulting in 60 hospitalizations and 10 deaths. It also led to the closure of the Jarratt, Virginia facility in which the recalled meat was produced, leaving roughly 500 workers without jobs. Department of Agriculture inspection records obtained by USA TODAY and other outlets later showed more than 60 reports of "noncompliance" at the Jarratt, Virginia plant including reports of insects and green mold, as well as mildew, dripping and standing water and other unsanitary conditions within the plant in the years leading up to the July recall. The fallout has been wide-reaching, though the outbreak itself was declared "over" by the CDC in November. A USDA investigation into the agency's handling of the situation is ongoing and several lawsuits remain underway. Holocaust survivor dies in outbreak: His dad died from listeria tied to Boar’s Head meat. He needed to share his story. Slivered onions used on McDonald's Quarter Pounders An onion recall initiated due to possible E. coli contamination made headlines this fall after being linked to McDonald's burgers. The E. coli outbreak was attributed to raw slivered onions served on Quarter Pounder burgers, which the chain temporarily pulled from some of its menus. McDonald's previously told USA TODAY that Taylor Farms had supplied onions to McDonald's in the areas impacted by E. coli illnesses, and US Foods, to whom Taylor Farms is a third-party supplier, issued a recall on raw diced, peeled and whole peeled onions produced by the company on Oct. 22. However, the recalled Taylor Farms Colorado onions were not related to the company's removal of Quarter Pounders, the company said. The outbreak was declared "over" by the CDC and FDA on Dec. 3, having caused 104 illnesses across 14 states, including 34 hospitalizations and one death in Colorado. McDonald's has since "identified an alternate supplier for the approximately 900 restaurants that had temporarily stopped serving Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions." Is it safe to eat McDonald's Quarter Pounders linked to E. coli outbreak has some worried Dairy products In one of the first recalls of 2024, Rizo-López Foods of Modesto, Calif. recalled about four dozen dairy products for possible contamination with listeria. The recalled products – including cheese, crema, yogurt and sour cream – were distributed nationwide and sold under brand names including 365 Whole Foods Market, Don Francisco and Tio Francisco. The FDA and CDC began investigating in January 2024 after the Hawaii State Department of Health reported it had found a sample of Rizo Bros Aged Cotija that tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. Officials said this amounts to a multi-year multistate investigation because of previous listeria outbreaks connected to Rizo-López Foods in 2021 and 2017, with cases dating back to 2014. The CDC and FDA reopened the investigation in January 2024 after the cheese sample showed that it was the same strain of listeria that caused illnesses in the earlier outbreaks. The CDC declared the outbreak over in April, having resulted in 26 illnesses with 2 deaths and 23 hospitalizations in 11 states. BrucePac meats Ready-to-eat meat producer BrucePac issued a recall in October for what ultimately amounted to 11.8 million pounds of product for listeria concerns. The meat and poultry were used in frozen and ready-to-eat items across hundreds of brands, distributors and products, leading the USDA to release a 400-plus page list of recalled items. The recall impacted not only well-known brands like Fresh Express, Udi's, Dole and Amazon Fresh, but popular grocery suppliers as well, including Walmart, Kroger and Trader Joe's. The USDA later released a preliminary list of roughly 200 schools across at least 17 states that received products included in the recall. The outbreak is still listed as "active" by the USDA, though the last update was released on Oct. 17. There have been no confirmed reports of illness related to this recall. Cucumbers A cucumber recall linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 100 people across 23 states since October is still ongoing, according to a Dec. 19 FDA statement. As of the most recent update, 100 people across 23 states were infected with the outbreak strain of salmonella, resulting in 25 hospitalizations. No deaths were reported. In November, Arizona company SunFed Produce recalled cucumbers sold Oct. 12 through Nov. 26 in more than two dozen states – including at some Walmart, Wegmans, and Albertsons stores – and in parts of Canada. Costco and Kroger also recently notified customers they sold some of the recalled cucumbers. Since the initial recall, the FDA has issued several updates adding additional brands subject to the recall, including Crazy Fresh, Quick & Easy and Sprouts Farmers Market, among others. Grimmway Farms carrots California-based produce company Grimmway Farms grappled with E. coli concerns after issuing a recall for multiple sizes and brands of bagged organic baby and whole carrots on Nov. 16. The CDC declared the outbreak officially "over" on Dec. 18, reporting a total of 48 illnesses across 19 states, including 20 hospitalizations and one death in California. The carrots were distributed and sold under a handful of brands, including Trader Joe's, Wholesome Pantry, Cal-Organic, 365 and more. Wolverine Packing Co. Detroit-based meat manufacturer Wolverine Packing Co . recalled about 67,200 pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef products for E. Coli concerns in November after illnesses were reported by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. While the products were distributed to restaurants nationwide, 15 cases of E. coli poisoning were identified in just Minnesota, with illness onset dates ranging from Nov. 2-10, said the USDA. No deaths were reported. The recall covered over 100 raw fresh and frozen ground beef products. Products were sold under other brand names in addition to Wolverine Packing Co., including 1855 Beef, Davis Creek Meals, Farmer's Choice, Heritage Restaurant Brands and Cheney Brothers, Inc., according to a list of labels released by the USDA . Frozen waffles Perhaps one of the more unexpected recalls of the year, TreeHouse Foods issued a voluntary recall of its frozen waffle products in October due to potential listeria contamination. The waffles were sold across brands like Best Choice, Kodiak Cakes and Good & Gather, and at several stores including Dollar General, Publix, Stop & Shop, Target and Walmart. TreeHouse Foods told USA TODAY that the issue was found at one of their manufacturing facilities. There have been no confirmed reports of illness linked to the recalled products to date. Eggs A salmonella outbreak was linked to eggs in September, resulting in 65 people becoming infected across nine states. The illnesses started in May and hospitalized 24 people. According to the FDA and CDC, impacted eggs were supplied to retailers across Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan by Milo's Poultry Farms LLC . The eggs were labeled with Milo's Poultry Farms or Tony's Fresh Market. No deaths were reported. Cinnamon The FDA issued recalls in 2024 for several brands of cinnamon due to the presence of the toxic heavy metal and other "possible health risks." A September Consumer Reports analysis identified 12 brands whose cinnamon and multi-spice powders contained such high traces of lead that a quarter of a teaspoon of any of the products would exceed an individual's daily consumption threshold. Ground cinnamon sold by U.S. discount retailer s including Dollar Tree and Family Dollar was also found to be contaminated with lead, the FDA said in March. Yu Shang Food Inc. Ready-to-Eat Meat and Poultry On Nov. 9, Yu Shang Food issued an initial recall of 4,589 pounds of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products for listeria concerns. On Nov. 21, the recall expanded to include a total of 72,240 pounds, including all Yu Shang Food, Inc. products made before Oct. 28, 2024. Recalled products included all those labeled with Yu Shang Food, including Yushang Brand Cooked Chicken, Seasoned Pork Hock, Japanese Chashu Pork Belly and more. In a Dec. 5 update, the CDC said a total of 19 people became ill across eight states, including 17 hospitalizations and two deaths.

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Donald Trump doesn’t appear to measure up to Prince William’s 6-foot-3NASHVILLE — The Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider for the first time whether states can ban certain gender transition medical treatments for young people – a closely watched case brought by three transgender teens, their parents and a doctor, all seeking to ensure health care access they say is critical. At issue is a Tennessee law barring transgender minors from using puberty blockers and hormones, treatments the state characterizes as risky and unproven. Lawmakers said the state should instead encourage adolescents to “appreciate their sex, particularly as they undergo puberty.” The court’s ruling might have implications for the more than 100,000 transgender adolescents living in Tennessee or one of the 23 other states that has banned using the drugs to treat minors with gender dysphoria. The question of whether and how to medically treat young people whose gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth has become a polarizing issue, one President-elect Donald Trump seized on in advertisements targeting transgender people during his campaign. The Supreme Court in 2020 extended employment protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers, but it has yet to rule on the constitutionality of lower court decisions involving bathroom access, athletes and medical treatment for transgender minors like 16-year-old L.W., one of the Tennessee teens behind the case at the high court. Her parents, Brian and Samantha Williams, now drive her five hours to receive care in North Carolina. The teen started gender care treatments when she was 12 and said they have allowed her to “get to be myself a little bit more.” “It took a huge stressor off my back,” L.W. said in an interview. “I have more friends now because I’m more confident, and I’m more able to socialize.” The Biden administration and the American Civil Liberties Union are representing the parents and teens, who are referred to in court filings by their initials or a pseudonym to protect their identity. The families say the Tennessee law amounts to unconstitutional sex discrimination and a broad restriction on treatments that nearly every major medical association says are appropriate and effective for minors. ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, who is arguing on behalf of the families, will be the first openly transgender lawyer to present a case before the Supreme Court. Tennessee’s Republican attorney general Jonathan Skrmetti says in court filings that states have long had the power to regulate medicine and that there is nothing unconstitutional about restricting the use of a drug for certain purposes, even when it can be used for treating other conditions, or imposing age limits for health treatments when the risks and rewards are too uncertain. One potential wild card in the resolution of the case is the incoming Trump administration and the possibility that the next solicitor general will flip the federal government’s position to align with Tennessee’s view. If that were to happen, the court could allow the ACLU to continue challenging the law on its own, which would keep the justices on track to issue a ruling by the end of June. Trump transition officials did not immediately respond to questions about the case before the court, but his team has said Trump intends to fulfill his campaign promises, which included a crackdown on gender transition care for minors. PATIENTS AND LAWMAKERS CLASH L.W. said she began to suspect she was trans in 2019, when she was 11. She’d long felt as if she were “drowning,” but she didn’t understand why. She wore baggy clothes to obscure her body, and she panicked the first time she saw a few facial hairs above her lip. She was so uncomfortable in boys bathrooms, she avoided ever using one at school. Eventually, she developed urinary tract infections. After a cousin came out as trans, L.W. began researching on YouTube and Google. But she was scared, so she didn’t tell her parents she thought she was trans until just after Thanksgiving in 2020, more than a year after she’d first put a name to her feelings. Brian and Samantha Williams both had gay friends, and they told L.W. they supported her, but neither felt comfortable immediately taking her to a doctor. L.W. was 12, and Brian worried the distress she felt might be normal puberty angst. “It’s not like we took this thing lightly and just did it,” Brian said. The family went to a progressive church, and the church had a therapist on staff who specialized in trans youth, so Samantha and Brian signed L.W. up for counseling. After roughly six months, the therapist diagnosed L.W. with gender dysphoria and recommended a team of doctors at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. At Vanderbilt, L.W. underwent tests, then, in the summer of 2021, her doctors prescribed the drug Lupron to stop her body from going through male puberty. The medication, which has been used for at least 30 years on patients who start puberty too early, is largely reversible, but it can affect a young person’s bone density if taken long term without hormone therapy. The teen said she felt instantly relieved. To her, the benefits “strongly outweighed” any side effects. At the time, no state had banned trans adolescents from receiving the kind of care Vanderbilt’s team offered. Doctors nationwide had been treating a few thousand young people a year with hormones and puberty blockers, according to data compiled for Reuters – a tiny fraction of America’s adolescent population. They faced little pushback. Multiple peer-reviewed studies have found that a majority of trans adolescents experience “satisfaction,” “confidence” and “improvements in psychosocial functioning” after such treatment. Almost as soon as L.W. left her first appointment, she asked to start estrogen, but her doctors and her parents decided to wait. L.W. went in for regular evaluations, and in September 2022, more than a year after she started Lupron, her doctors agreed to prescribe estrogen. Hormone therapy made life feel possible in ways it never had before, L.W. said. She started hugging her family. She recorded music and built Lego models. She and her younger brother staged Airsoft matches with other teenagers. Neighbors even told Samantha that L.W. talked to them for the first time. L.W.’s journey felt personal to her, a singular distress followed by her own unique wins. But her time at Vanderbilt coincided with a historic rise in gender dysphoria diagnoses. In 2021, about 42,000 young people nationwide received a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, nearly triple the number in 2017, according to data the technology company Komodo Health Inc. compiled for Reuters. The vast majority were not prescribed hormones or puberty blockers, the data shows. Still, as the numbers rose, lawmakers and activists across the country began to raise questions about gender clinics and the treatments doctors were offering. The same month L.W. started estrogen, the conservative podcast host Matt Walsh accused Vanderbilt of castrating, sterilizing and mutilating children for profit. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) promised to investigate the hospital. That fall, Walsh and a group of Republican state legislators held a “Rally to End Child Mutilation” in downtown Nashville. Only Arkansas and Alabama had passed bans on transition-related care at that point. But lawmakers in other conservative states signaled that they intended to prioritize similar restrictions. In March 2023, Tennessee adopted the legislation now before the Supreme Court. The law, known as SB 1, prohibits health-care providers from prescribing any puberty blocker or hormone for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify or live as “a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.” Providers who violate the law can be fined $25,000 for each prohibited treatment and are subject to disciplinary measures and potential civil liability in private lawsuits. Throughout the hearings on the legislation, Republican lawmakers treated gender dysphoria as if it were an illusion. A co-sponsor of the House bill described transitioning as a “fiction” and “fantasy.” Another representative said, “If you don’t know what you are, a boy or girl, male or female, just go in the bathroom and take your clothes off and look in the mirror and you’ll find out.” The Williams family watched the hearings, and Brian was infuriated. The lawmakers didn’t know his daughter. He and Samantha had taken L.W. to experts. They’d had what felt like a million hard conversations, and they’d followed the best evidence available. “All of a sudden to have a state come down and say that that’s not the right thing to do, that’s it’s abusive, that it’s wrongheaded, it’s just infuriating because I feel like I’m doing all the right stuff,” Brian said. EXPERIMENTATION OR DISCRIMINATION? After the bill became law, everyone in the Williams family agreed that discontinuing care wasn’t an option. L.W. was happy in ways she’d never been before she transitioned. If she stopped taking puberty blockers and estrogen, her body would begin to go through male puberty. She told her parents that was too painful to contemplate, let alone experience. Moving didn’t feel possible either. L.W.’s brother sobbed every time he thought about leaving his friends, and Brian’s elderly parents live in Nashville and rely on his help. That spring, Samantha saw an ACLU form that invited families to describe how they’d been affected by the legislation. She didn’t imagine, as she filled out the form, that she was signing up for a lawsuit that would eventually make its way to the Supreme Court. She only knew that she wanted to protect her daughter and she didn’t want to feel helpless anymore. Tennessee gave families four months to wean kids like L.W. off the medications, but in June, before the ban even took effect, Vanderbilt shut down its clinic. In June 2023, a District Court judge temporarily blocked the law, saying it discriminates based on sex and treats some teens differently because they are transgender. The judge said the benefits of the treatments are well-established and noted that Tennessee’s law bans the medications for a small subset of minors while making them available for adolescents who use them for other health issues. “If Tennessee wishes to regulate access to certain medical procedures,” wrote U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson, a Trump nominee, “it must do so in a manner that does not infringe on the rights conferred by the United States Constitution, which is of course supreme to all other laws of the land.” A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit soon reversed Richardson’s decision, rejecting the families’ claims of discrimination and allowing the state to enforce the law while litigation continues. Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton said the law regulates gender transition treatments for all minors, regardless of sex, and concluded that Tennessee lawmakers could have rationally determined that the law was an appropriate response to perceived risks associated with the treatments. Sutton, a nominee of George W. Bush, also said courts should be wary of intervening in a highly contested political dispute. Judge Helene N. White, another Bush nominee, agreed with the majority that the Constitution envisions states acting as laboratories for democracies to resolve political debates, but dissented from the majority ruling. “When a fundamental right or freedom from discrimination is involved, experimentation has no place,” she wrote. At the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar is asking the justices to return the case to the 6th Circuit to apply a more stringent level of review, which she says should be triggered by a law that discriminates based on sex. The state, she wrote, ignores the benefits of gender-transition care and overstates the health risks. She also said the law’s stated goal of having teens “appreciate their sex” is based on stereotypical understandings of gender and cannot be used to justify the ban. Skrmetti, the Tennessee attorney general, said the state has the authority to protect minors from the risks of gender-transition treatment, and the federal government should not discount lawmakers’ concerns. He also objected to Prelogar’s characterization of the law as driven by stereotypes. It is not unconstitutional discrimination, Skrmetti argued, to say that drugs can be prescribed for one reason, but not another. L.W. will be in the courtroom on Wednesday, but she said she can’t comprehend the gravity of the case she’s a part of. Mostly, she has tried to continue to live the life gender care has made possible. The day the ACLU filed its petition, she went to high school, and she only told a few people in the Gender-Sexualities Alliance, or GSA, about the case. That night, she worried, briefly, that her name would be on a case that might be remembered along the same lines as Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 Supreme Court case that ruled it was constitutional for states to enact segregation laws. Eventually, L.W. decided it was out of her control, and plus, she had the drivers’ test for her learner’s permit to worry about, so she set aside her fears and let her lawyers handle the hard parts. She is a junior in high school now. She DJed a party this Halloween. She has broadened her social life, and she adopted a kitten the family named Mushroom. She wants to spend her free time traveling to look at colleges with aviation programs, but for now, she and her mother still make regular trips to get treatment in North Carolina. Traveling out of state for health-care she’d rather get at home is arduous. Until recently, her mother had to take unpaid time off work, and L.W. has to call in sick to the magnet high school where she takes three Advanced Placement classes. “I hate taking days off school, it’s, like, the worst thing ever,” she said. “I have very, very difficult classes. So I’ve got a lot to catch up on if I miss a single day.” The drive used to take five hours each way, but Hurricane Helene washed out one of the roads they take, and now, the journey will be much longer. Comments are not available on this story. Send questions/comments to the editors. « Previous Next »Trump vows to block Japan’s Nippon Steel from buying U.S. Steel. Here’s how

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