The day after the 2024 election , I stopped watching the news. Sure, I’ll still read articles from various outlets and follow along online, but after years spent tuning into journalists who’d become personalities and pundits only interested in getting their sound bite, I could no longer escape the feeling that these people rarely knew what they were talking about — or worse, were straight up lying. In an age where information is weaponized and fact debatable to the point of meaninglessness, media has served as both an indispensable tool and a rallying cry for whichever side you choose to support, a fact that allows journalism to become more about pushing a specific message than actually seeking out the truth.
This conflict is at the crux of Sam Feder ‘s legal documentary “ Heightened Scrutiny ,” which captures ACLU attorney and transgender rights activist Chase Strangio as he prepares to argue in front of the Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Skrmetti. The Skrmetti case originated as a challenge to a Tennessee law prohibiting transgender minors from accessing certain forms of gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, but Strangio makes clear throughout the film : If this law is upheld by the Supreme Court, it will lead to a full-out attack on trans identity in America.
Not just for children, but adults too who would have to face a legal system that effectively would be giving states the right to take away gender-affirming c.
