US Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender athletes in women's sports
The United States Supreme Court has upheld state laws barring transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, in a decision expected to have far-reaching effects across the country.
In a 6-3 ruling on 30 June, the court ruled against two transgender students, Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox, who had challenged laws in West Virginia and Idaho respectively. The opinion, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, concluded that the laws did not violate the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection or Title IX, which bars sex discrimination in education.
Although the case directly concerned only West Virginia and Idaho, the ruling is likely to affect around 25 other states that have enacted similar bans, effectively settling a legal question that had divided lower courts.
West Virginia's governor welcomed the decision, saying the state had defended the principle that women's sports exist to give women and girls a fair opportunity to compete. LGBTQ advocates condemned the ruling, arguing that it undermined fairness and excluded transgender young people from school sports.
The decision was one of several high-profile rulings issued as the court closed its term, on issues ranging from immigration to campaign finance, underscoring the influence of its conservative majority on contentious social questions.
