The United States Supreme Court has ruled that states can prohibit transgender women from competing in female school and college sports, upholding laws enacted in Idaho and West Virginia.
According to BBC, the decision followed legal challenges brought by students who argued that the bans violated constitutional equal protection rights and federal civil rights protections under Title IX.
The court unanimously agreed that the state laws do not breach Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational institutions.
However, the justices were divided on whether the bans violate the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. The court’s six conservative justices ruled that the laws are constitutional, while the three liberal justices dissented.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said:
“The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America.”
In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that the ruling weakened constitutional protections.
“The majority opinion had applied a diminished view of equal protection to sports,” she wrote.
Idaho became the first state to introduce such legislation in 2020, with more than two dozen states later adopting similar measures restricting transgender women from participating in female school and college sports.
The case in Idaho was brought by transgender athlete Lindsay Hecox, who challenged the law shortly after it was enacted, arguing that it discriminated against transgender students.
Supporters of the bans maintain that transgender women have physical advantages over athletes assigned female at birth, while opponents argue the restrictions unfairly discriminate against transgender individuals and challenge claims of a scientific consensus on competitive advantage.
The ruling comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year aimed at preventing transgender women from competing in female school and college sports, a move that was later followed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which barred transgender women from women’s competitions.
