The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that states can ban transgender athletes from competing on girls’ and women’s scholastic sports teams.
The ruling, in a 6-3 decision, follows the court’s review of two cases, Bradley Little, et al. v. Lindsay Hecox, et al. and State of West Virginia, et al. v. B.P.J. & Heather Jackson, which reflect laws in Idaho and West Virginia, respectively. Those laws ban transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.
There are 27 states with such laws, which generally predicate eligibility to play a sport based on biological sex, defined as the sex determined on a birth certificate.
The ruling was expected based on the justices’ comments during the oral argument earlier this year.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has led the Idaho case, which centers on the state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. The act justifies the ban based on “longstanding government policies preserving women’s and girls’ sports due to the ‘average real differences’ between the sexes.”
