US Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender women in female school and college sports

The US Supreme Court has upheld state bans preventing transgender women from competing in female school and college sports. The court considered legal challenges from students in Idaho and West Virginia, states that enacted laws requiring athletes to compete according to their sex assigned at birth.

One challenge argued that the bans violate equal rights protections under the US Constitution, while another claimed they contradict civil rights laws. These state-level bans, which prohibit transgender women from participating in women's sports, have been enacted in more than two dozen states since Idaho first passed such a law in 2020.

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boys and men will not be able to take the place of girls and women in sports because it's not fair

Lindsay Hecox, a long-distance runner, challenged Idaho's law after its passage and initially secured injunctions from lower courts. However, a state lawmaker who introduced the law stated it would ensure "boys and men will not be able to take the place of girls and women in sports because it's not fair." An appeals court panel had previously found Idaho's law violated constitutional rights, citing a lack of evidence that the ban protected "sex equality and opportunity for women athletes."

This issue was a prominent topic during former President Donald Trump's 2024 election campaign, and he previously signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender women from female sports teams. Following this, the NCAA, the governing body for US college sports, implemented its own ban on transgender women competing in women's sports.

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sex equality and opportunity for women athletes