Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender athletes in women's sports
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 6-3 that Idaho, West Virginia, and over two dozen other states may bar transgender girls and women from competing on female school athletic teams, a significant victory for the Trump administration.
The ruling
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that prohibit transgender girls and women from participating in female sports teams at public schools and universities. The 6-3 decision, authored by Justice Kenneth Kavanaugh, found that the restrictions do not violate the Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection nor Title IX, the federal law barring sex discrimination in education. The court's conservative majority sided with the states, which argued the bans preserve fair and safe competition for women and girls.
Great victory: the Supreme Court just ruled that men cannot compete in women's sports. This puts an end to a ridiculous situation.
The plaintiffs
The ruling rejected appeals from two transgender female students. Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 16-year-old high school sophomore in Bridgeport, West Virginia, has identified as a girl since age 8 and holds a state birth certificate recognizing her as female. She progressed from a middle-school cross-country runner to a statewide shot put champion, beating the second-place finisher by two feet in last month's West Virginia championship meet. Lindsay Hecox sued over Idaho's first-in-the-nation ban for a chance to try out for the women's track and cross-country teams at Boise State University, though she did not make either squad.
Scope of the bans
The decision affects Idaho, West Virginia, and more than two dozen other Republican-led states that have adopted similar measures, requiring students to compete on teams based on their sex at birth rather than gender identity. The court did not resolve ongoing lawsuits in states like Connecticut and California that permit transgender athletes to compete consistent with their gender identity.
Broader context on transgender rights
The ruling is the latest in a series of Supreme Court decisions restricting transgender Americans. In 2025, the court allowed Tennessee to ban puberty blockers and hormone treatments for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. The Trump administration has also moved aggressively, banning transgender people from military service and barring passport applicants from selecting a sex marker reflecting their gender identity. Trump signed an executive order titled "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" in 2025, directing that Title IX be interpreted to exclude transgender girls and women from female teams.
Reaction and implications
Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social. Prominent women athletes have publicly split on the issue: tennis champion Martina Navratilova and beach volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings support the bans, while soccer star Megan Rapinoe and basketball legend Sue Bird back transgender athletes' inclusion. The Supreme Court's ruling is final, but the political and legal battles over transgender participation in sports are likely to continue in state legislatures and lower courts.
