US Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender athletes in women's sports
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that states may ban transgender women from competing in female school and college sports, rejecting challenges based on federal civil rights law and constitutional equal protection guarantees.
The cases originated from Idaho and West Virginia, where state laws require public school and college sports teams to be designated based on an athlete's sex recorded at birth. More than two dozen states have enacted similar bans since Idaho's law was passed in 2020.
The plaintiffs argued that the bans violated Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education, and the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. However, the Court's ruling, issued unanimously on the Title IX question, found that the bans do not conflict with the statute. On the constitutional question, the justices split along ideological lines: the six conservative justices held that the bans do not violate equal protection, while the three liberal justices dissented.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh stated that 'the Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women's and girls' sports throughout America.' In a partial dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that the majority applied 'a diminished view of equal protection' in the context of sports.
President Donald Trump celebrated the decision on social media, calling it a 'BIG WIN.' The ruling is likely to affect ongoing litigation in other states with similar bans.
