This CLE explores two of the most closely watched federal constitutional cases impacting the LGBTQ+ community: United States v. Skrmetti and The Woodlands Pride v. Paxton. We’ll examine how courts have evaluated challenges to laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth and restricting public drag performances. The session will walk through key arguments raised by plaintiffs and states, circuit-level splits, and the Supreme Court’s approach to equal protection, parental rights, and the level of scrutiny applied by the courts. Attendees will leave with a grounded understanding of where federal law stands—and where it might go—in the ongoing fight over identity, healthcare, and expression. 

Date: July 18, 2025

Time: 12 - 1 p.m.

Location: Zoom

Speaker: Brian Klosterboer, ACLU attorney

Register here.

Brian Klosterboer is a lawyer with the ACLU of Texas’s Free Speech and Pluralism and Smart Justice teams. Brian engages in impact litigation and advocacy to transform Texas’s criminal justice system, end police violence against Black and Latinx communities, and defend the rights of protesters across the state. Brian is the lead counsel in The Woodlands Pride, Inc., et al. v. Ken Paxton, et al., which secured a permanent injunction blocking Texas's drag ban after a two-day trial.