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

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The US Supreme Court has ruled that states can ban transgender women
from competing in female school and college sports. 

The court considered cases from students in two different states who had
challenged bans on participation. The two states, Idaho and West
Virginia, enacted laws that required public school and college sports
teams to compete in accordance with their sex recorded at birth. 

One of the two challenges said the ban violates equal rights protections
in the US Constitution. The other said it contradicts civil rights laws. 

More than two dozen states have enacted bans since Idaho did so in 2020.
President Donald Trump celebrated the decision in a social media post as
a "BIG WIN". 

Under those state bans, a transgender woman - a biological male who
identifies as a woman - is not permitted to compete in female sports at
schools and colleges. 

All nine justices on the court decided the state bans do not violate a
civil rights law called Title IX that prohibits sex-based discrimination
in schools. 

But the judges were split along ideological lines on whether the bans
contravene the Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantee of equal
protection under the law. 

The six conservative justices said it did not violate the constitution,
while the three liberal justices disagreed. 

"The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women's and
girls' sports throughout America," wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who
wrote the ruling. 

In her partial dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the majority
opinion had applied "a diminished view of equal protection" to sports. 

The challenge launched in Idaho came from a transgender woman, Lindsay
Hecox, a long-distance runner, who lodged it shortly after the law was
enacted. She was later granted an injunction by both a district court
and an appeals court. 

State lawmaker Barbara Ehardt, who introduced the law, said at the time
of its passing that 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". 

But in the appeals ruling, a panel of three judges found that the Idaho
law violated constitutional rights. They said the state had failed to
provide evidence that its ban protects "sex equality and opportunity for
women athletes". 

The plaintiff in West Virginia was 16-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, who
challenged that state ban on equal-protection grounds. 

West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey said Tuesday's ruling was a
victory for common sense and would give all states "the clarity and
confidence to ensure fairness and safety for female athletes today and
for generations to come". 

But the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which advocates for the LGBT
community, criticised the decision. 

"This ruling is heartbreaking for transgender student athletes who are
being forced to sit on the sidelines simply for who they are," said HRC
president Kelley Robinson. 

President Trump made the issue of transgender athletes in women's sports
a focus of his 2024 election campaign. 

Last year, he signed an executive order that aimed to ban transgender
women from competing on female sports teams in schools and colleges. 

Following that decision, the NCAA, the governing body for US college
sports, banned transgender women from competing in women's sports. 

US First Lady Melania Trump celebrated Tuesday's ruling by the Supreme
Court as a victory for women in sports, while adding that she supported
the rights of gay and transgender Americans. 

"America, we can support the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and also
protect opportunities for female athletes. Respect everyone and keep
girls' sports fair," she wrote on social media. "Both ideals are
essential." 

Supporters of the bans argued that transgender women had a biological
advantage over athletes who were recorded female at birth. 

When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in March it was
going to limit the women's category of Olympic sports to biological
females, it said its working group reviewed the latest scientific
evidence over the previous 18 months and had concluded there was a
"clear consensus" that "male sex provides a performance advantage in all
sports and events that rely on strength, power and resistance" . 

Those who opposed the bans argue that they unfairly discriminated
against transgender students and dispute whether there is a scientific
consensus that transgender women and girls have an inherent advantage. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj40x888d9go

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