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<\/p>\nThe decision delivers a major blow to LGBTQ+ rights, although student athletes in California are still protected under state laws. <\/p>\n
Jun 30, 2026<\/p>\n
Updated 1:14 pm PT<\/p>\n
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LGBTQ+ rights advocates rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear arguments in challenges to state bans on transgender athletes in women’s sports on Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington, D.C.\u00a0(Oliver Contreras\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The justices ruled that Title IX allows for schools to determine eligibility for women and girls\u2019 sports based on biological sex.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen and girls should be allowed to compete for those life-changing opportunities on an equal playing field, without fear of physical injury from biological males or being forced to compete against biological males,\u201d wrote Justice Brent Kavanaugh on behalf of the court\u2019s conservative majority.<\/p>\n
Attorneys for Lindsay Hecox and Becky Pepper-Jackson, transgender student-athletes in Idaho and West Virginia, had argued that the bans violate Title IX of the Education Amendments, which bars sex discrimination in education. Pepper-Jackson also alleged that West Virginia\u2019s law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.<\/p>\n
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Defenders of female sports categories gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as they wait for rulings on June 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a ban on birthright citizenship, upheld state restrictions on transgender athletes in female sports, and eliminated federal limits on coordinated campaign spending. (Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
In 2020, Hecox, then a Boise State University student, sued Idaho after it became the first state in the nation to pass a law banning transgender women and girls from participating on girls\u2019 sports teams. She alleged that the ban violated her rights by preventing her from trying out for the university\u2019s NCAA track and cross country teams as a freshman. Hecox\u2019s case was also joined by a cisgender high school athlete, who said she feared that her sex might be \u201cdisputed\u201d under the act.<\/p>\n
Pepper-Jackson, a 15-year-old shot put and discus athlete in West Virginia, sued the state in 2021 over its similar \u201cSave Women in Sports\u201d Law, which prohibited her from joining her middle school\u2019s track and cross country teams.<\/p>\n
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan issued a partial dissent, saying that while Pepper-Jackson\u2019s Title IX claim failed, her challenge under the Equal Protection Clause should be returned to the district court to address \u201cunresolved factual questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the case doesn\u2019t overturn state laws protecting transgender student-athletes, it could have ramifications in California, which was sued in 2025 by the Trump administration<\/a> over its policies allowing trans students to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity. Already, conservative activists have taken to social media, threatening to push legislation barring transgender athletes from girls\u2019 sports in more states.<\/p>\n \u201cBlue states with boys on girls\u2019 podiums \u2026 you\u2019re next,\u201d Kristen Waggoner, the CEO of parents\u2019 rights group Alliance Defending Freedom, wrote on the social media platform\u00a0 X<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Trevor Norcross, whose transgender daughter is a track and field athlete in the Central Coast town of Arroyo Grande, said he\u2019s afraid Democratic lawmakers could bow to that political pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s become a very politically sensitive discussion,\u201d he said. \u201cOur own governor, Governor Newsom, has made some very poorly worded and poorly thought-through comments.\u201d<\/p>\n Newsom questioned the fairness of transgender students\u2019 participation on girls\u2019 sports teams in an episode of his podcast in 2025, and later told KQED\u2019s Political Breakdown that he believes there should be changes in state law<\/a> clarifying when and how transgender women and girls can compete in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n Norcross\u2019s daughter, Lily, 17, worries that Newsom could move to do so before his term ends in November. She also said that the state\u2019s likely gubernatorial elect, Xavier Bacerra, \u201chas refused to give a definitive comment on whether or not he will protect trans athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260429-CIF-Trans-Athletes-01-KQED.jpg\"){kind=spacer}
Lily, left, and her father, Trevor Norcross, attend a meeting of the California Interscholastic Federation\u2019s executive committee in Oakland on April 24, 2026. (Desmond Meagley\/KQED)<\/p>\n