Crucial LGBTQ+ Cases to Watch this U.S. Supreme Court Term
Fall 2025 • Aneesha Pappy She/Her
In the past year, the U.S. Supreme Court has made a handful of decisions that have had a significant impact on the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ+ community.
Recently, the Court declined to hear a case from former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who petitioned to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, allowing constitutional marriage equality protections to remain in place. However, the Supreme Court also announced a handful of deeply disappointing decisions earlier this summer that stripped away critical rights for the LGBTQ+ community, including access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth and inclusive curriculum in schools.
Now, as the Court moves forward in this new term, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is tracking three cases that could either protect or dismantle freedoms for our community. These cases impact LGBTQ+ youth in particular, including crucial protections against the abusive practices of so-called “conversion therapy” and inclusive policies for transgender students in sports.
“In recent years, extremists have captured our Supreme Court, systematically rolling back critical protections and stripping away hard-fought freedoms in a coordinated assault on equality,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson.
They’ve made it their mission to target our community, exploiting a conservative majority to push an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda through the highest court in the land. But freedom is never won in one generation—and it’s never lost in one either. Our job is to hold the line and carry the fight for equality forward.
“As we prepare for the outcomes of crucial LGBTQ+ cases on the docket this term, we’re mobilizing every tool at our disposal: our legal expertise, our strategic insight, and our coalition partners across the country. We will fight back in courthouses nationwide, and we will make our voices heard. This movement has faced down opposition before, and we will do it again — because the future of LGBTQ+ youth and the hard-won rights of our community depend on it.”
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