July 03, 2025
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The Supreme Court will hear two cases in October dealing with the constitutionaly of state bans on transgender athletes participating in organized girls' and women's sports.
The U.S. Supreme Court will weigh the constitutionality of state laws that restrict transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports, tackling a contentious issue that has surfaced questions of fairness and inclusion, the high court said Thursday.
The court will examine cases in West Virginia and Idaho, which are among 27 states with laws or other regulations limiting transgender athletes from playing organized sports that align with their gender identity. The justices said they plan to hear the cases in October.
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The decision to hear the cases will give the Supreme Court a look at another conflict over transgender rights. In May, the court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with a ban on transgender people in the military, reversing a lower court ruling. The justices also returned a 6-3 decision last month upholding Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
The American Civil Liberties Union called the ruling in the Tennessee case "a blow to trans youth," but noted the decision does not address broader legal questions concerning discrimination against transgender people.
On the issue of athletics, the West Virginia case centers on Becky Pepper-Jackson, a transgender girl who sued the state because she wanted to run on the cross-country team. A lower court ruling found that the state's ban violated Pepper-Jackson's rights, and she has since competed on her high school's girls' track team. West Virginia has appealed the lower court ruling, which will now be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Idaho became the first state in 2020 to ban transgender women and girls from playing on women's teams sponsored by public schools, colleges and universities. The ACLU and Legal Voice sued the state on behalf of Lindsay Hecox, a transgender women who sought to compete in track at Boise State University, and another woman who challenged the state's ban on grounds of privacy. Lower court rulings have blocked the state's ban from being enforced as it makes its way to the Supreme Court.
The Trump administration has targeted schools and universities with lawsuits and federal investigations for allowing transgender athletes to compete in their chosen sports.
The University of Pennsylvania this week reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to ban transgender athletes from playing on women's teams and revoke their past awards and records, including those held by swimmer Lia Thomas. The Trump administration had threatened to cut university funding and refer the case to the Justice Department.
A May poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that roughly 7 in 10 adults in the U.S. adults do not think transgender female athletes should be allowed to compete in girls and women’s sports at any level from high school to the pros. About 9 in 10 Republicans held that position compared with about half of Democrats.
