The Supreme Court ruled June 30 that states can ban transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams, upholding laws in West Virginia and Idaho that bar participation based on sex assigned at birth.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said schools “may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex.” He added that “separate sports teams for biological males and biological females are reasonable,” according to USA Today.
The court found that the state bans do not violate the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause or Title IX, the federal law barring sex discrimination in education. The decision came as one of the Supreme Court’s final rulings before adjourning for the summer.
Twenty-seven states have passed similar bans since 2020, saying they aim to ensure fairness and address safety concerns for non-transgender female athletes. The ruling provides legal backing for those laws across the nation.
Two transgender students challenged the bans. Lindsay Hecox, a student at Boise State University, sought to compete on the women’s cross-country team under Idaho’s law. Becky Pepper-Jackson, a West Virginia high school student, challenged her state’s ban while taking puberty-delaying medication and estrogen. Both argued their medical treatments had eliminated physiological advantages from male puberty, but the Supreme Court majority rejected that reasoning.
Lower courts had sided with the transgender students at earlier stages, blocking enforcement of the laws. The justices agreed to Hecox’s request to withdraw from the case after oral arguments, issuing their decision solely on the West Virginia case, according to USA Today.
In partial dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the majority “extends great sympathy to those it favors: the young cisgender girls and women who play sports.” She said the Court should have given the student challenging West Virginia’s law “a fair and full opportunity the Constitution requires to litigate their contentions.”
The ruling marks another loss for the transgender community from the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority. The court has issued a series of recent decisions against transgender Americans, including a 2025 ruling allowing states to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
The decision also came amid a broad effort by President Donald Trump to target transgender people. His opposition to transgender women in female sports was a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign, and as president he has moved to cut off federal funding to schools that allow transgender females to participate in girls’ and women’s sports, according to USA Today.
Sources
- USA Today — Full text of the ruling, Justice Kavanaugh’s majority opinion language, Justice Sotomayor’s dissent, details on the two cases and student plaintiffs, context on state bans and Trump administration involvement
- NPR — Confirmation that 27 states have passed similar bans barring transgender girls from participation
- The New York Times — Breaking news and live updates on the June 30 ruling
