The US Supreme Court has upheld state bans on transgender athletes. (PHOTO: Getty Images)
(georgeclerk via Getty Images)
The US Supreme Court has upheld state laws that bar transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s school sports, handing a major victory to conservatives in one of the country’s most closely watched culture-war disputes. The ruling allows Idaho, West Virginia and more than two dozen other Republican-led states to enforce laws requiring students to compete on teams based on their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity.
The decision follows last year’s Supreme Court ruling that upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, further signalling the court’s support for state restrictions on transgender rights.
President Donald Trump welcomed the decision, calling it a “big win” and saying on Truth Social that the court had taken “that ridiculous situation off the table.”
The cases were brought by transgender students who argued the laws violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause and Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education.
Supporters of the bans say they are necessary to ensure fair competition and protect opportunities for female athletes. Opponents argue the measures unfairly target a small and vulnerable group of students.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said states may determine eligibility for girls’ and women’s sports based on biological sex.
“May schools determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex? The answer is yes,” he wrote.
“Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females.”
The court ruled 6-3 in favour of the states.
The Idaho case centred on the state’s 2020 Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which was challenged by a transgender athlete at an Idaho university after lower courts found the law unconstitutional.
During oral arguments in January, Idaho Solicitor General Alan Hurst argued that “sex is what matters in sports”, citing biological differences in size, strength, muscle mass and lung capacity.
The West Virginia case involved a transgender teenage girl who was barred under a 2021 state law from competing on her middle school’s girls’ track team.
Her lawyers argued that transgender girls who receive testosterone-suppressing treatment do not retain an unfair athletic advantage. They also contended that the laws amount to broad bans motivated more by politics than evidence.
For more on the US Supreme Court ruling, read here.