On Tuesday, the Supreme Court upheld state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that prohibit transgender girls and women from participating on female school athletic teams. The 6-3 landmark ruling that is expected to shape similar laws in more than half the country and mark a significant development in the national debate over transgender rights and school athletics; and leaves intact restrictive measures across 29 states – dealing a significant blow to the LGBTQ+ community and expanding a series of rulings that curb transgender rights.

The high court’s ruling addressed two separate challenges originating in Idaho and West Virginia, known respectively as Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. The litigation involved Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 16-year-old West Virginia high school runner and shot-put champion who has used puberty-blocking medications and identified as female since early childhood, and Lindsay Hecox, an Idaho student who sought to try out for track and cross-country squads at Boise State University. In both instances, the conservative majority overturned lower court rulings that had favored transgender students seeking to play on teams matching their gender identity, concluding that the state laws do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh stated that “states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females.” Kavanaugh argued that because athletic rosters are inherently limited, “The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America.” He added that legislative bodies and educational systems are structurally better positioned than courts to evaluate medical and scientific factors when determining athletic boundaries.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, joined by the court’s other liberal justices on the constitutional portion of the case. She argued the majority gave insufficient weight to the individual circumstances of transgender students and questioned whether broad exclusions were justified given ongoing scientific debate surrounding athletic performance and competitive advantages.

The justices reached a rare consensus regarding Title IX, the landmark 1972 federal anti-discrimination law for education. All nine members agreed that state-level bans targeting transgender women do not violate the statute. Kavanaugh noted that the term “sex” within the law “cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex.”

Although the ruling directly addresses only the Idaho and West Virginia laws, legal experts expect it to influence litigation involving similar statutes in more than two dozen states that have enacted restrictions on transgender participation in girls’ and women’s school sports. The decision does not establish a nationwide prohibition on transgender athletes competing in girls’ or women’s sports. Instead, it confirms that states may adopt such restrictions without violating Title IX or the Constitution, leaving future policy decisions largely in the hands of state legislatures and school officials.

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