University of Tennessee College of Law student Matthew Holman’s work has placed third in a national essay contest sponsored by the American Bar Association.
The American Bar Association’s family law section annually hosts the Howard C. Schwab Memorial Essay Contest to promote interest and scholarship in family law. Students attending American Bar Association-approved law schools are eligible to enter.
Holman wrote the essay titled “Physicians, Parents, and the Transgender Child: Does the State have a Legitimate Interest in Prohibiting Gender-Affirming Treatment in Minor,” for Professor Zack Buck’s Bioethics and Public Health Law Seminar in the fall of 2020.
Holman said the lack of discussion among the legal community about children undergoing gender-transition treatment prompted him to explore the issue. His paper summarizes what gender dysphoria is, presents the ethical considerations related to treatment, catalogs state legislative efforts and raises constitutional challenges to state regulation.
The essay concludes that state laws limiting treatment violate due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment.
Buck praised his student’s work and said the honor is well-deserved.
“His work is a timely and serious contribution to the literature in this space, and I was fortunate to get to work with him on it,” Buck said.
Holman said researching the legal issue convinced him that issues surrounding the treatment of transgender children is not best addressed through blanket legislation but requires “a more nuanced approach … through consultation with parents and their children’s physicians.”
Homan’s essay was judged by a panel of five judges who considered originality, quality of analysis, quality of research, organization, and practicality and timeliness of subject matter.
In addition to the $350 prize Holman has won, his essay has been submitted to the American Bar Association section of family law’s “Family Law Quarterly”for consideration for publication.