US Supreme Court upholds transgender sports bans in Idaho and West Virginia

The US Supreme Court has upheld laws banning transgender girls from competing in girls’ and women’s school sports in Idaho and West Virginia.

The decision means both states can enforce legislation requiring public school and university sports teams to be organised according to “biological sex”. The laws also bar “students of the male sex” from competing on female teams.

Today’s (30 June) ruling overturns earlier decisions that blocked the laws while legal challenges continued.

Who challenged the US Supreme Court transgender sports bans?

In both cases, transgender students argued the measures breached the US Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

The two cases were brought by West Virginia teenager Becky Pepper-Jackson and Idaho college student Lindsay Hecox.

Pepper-Jackson challenged West Virginia’s law after she was prevented from joining her school’s girls’ cross-country and athletics teams. Hecox, meanwhile, sued Idaho over its Fairness in Women’s Sports Act after it prevented her from competing in women’s college sport.

How many US states have transgender sports bans?

Although the ruling only directly applies to Idaho and West Virginia, it is expected to strengthen similar laws elsewhere. Twenty-seven states have now passed legislation restricting transgender students from competing on teams that match their gender identity, with most of those measures introduced in recent years by Republican-led legislatures.

The case is the first time the Supreme Court has ruled directly on transgender participation in school sports.

It follows a series of judgments narrowing legal protections for transgender Americans, including decisions allowing states to ban gender-affirming healthcare for minors and permitting restrictions on transgender military service while legal challenges continue.