{"id":306,"date":"2026-06-30T15:43:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306"},"modified":"2026-06-30T15:43:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T15:43:09","slug":"court-rules-that-states-can-exclude-transgender-athletes-from-girls-and-womens-sports-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306","title":{"rendered":"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Supreme Court on Tuesday that states can exclude transgender athletes from women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports teams. The justices ruled unanimously that laws enacted by Idaho and West Virginia do not violate federal civil rights laws, but they divided over whether the West Virginia law violates the Constitution, at least with regard to the athlete in the case before the court.<\/p>\n

Read more Supreme Court strikes down Trump\u2019s order ending birthright citizenship<\/a><\/p>\n

In his 29-page opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that \u201c[c]onsistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports throughout America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in an opinion joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, contended that \u201cthe majority extends great sympathy to those it favors: the young cisgender girls and women who play sports. I share that sympathy. Playing sports can lead to benefits that are immeasurable, and many are understandably invested in ensuring that competition stays fair and safe. Because the majority, however, inflicts a hardship on those it disfavors without giving them the fair and full opportunity the Constitution requires to litigate their contentions, I respectfully dissent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s decision in West Virginia v. B.P.J.<\/em> and Little v. Hecox<\/em> came just over a year after the Supreme Court, also by a vote of 6-3, upheld a Tennessee law banning the use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy by transgender teenagers.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s ruling centers on two laws that limit participation on women\u2019s and girls\u2019 teams. Idaho enacted the\u00a0 in 2020. The law bars transgender women and girls from participating on any women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports teams in public schools, from elementary school through college. Idaho was the first state to pass such a law; since then, 25 other states have enacted similar bans.<\/p>\n

The West Virginia Legislature passed that state\u2019s law, known as the\u00a0Save Women\u2019s Sports Act, in 2022. The law prohibits transgender women and girls from participating on women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports team in public secondary schools and colleges.<\/p>\n

Read more The final four<\/a><\/p>\n

There are two challengers in two separate cases, which were argued on the same day in January. One challenger is Lindsay Hecox, who filed this lawsuit because she wanted to try out for the women\u2019s track and cross-country teams at Boise State University in Idaho. Hecox did not make the NCAA teams at BSU but competed in women\u2019s soccer at the club level.<\/p>\n

The other challenger is Becky Pepper-Jackson, identified in court filings only as B.P.J., a 15-year-old high school student who has publicly identified as female since the third grade. Pepper-Jackson takes medicine to stave off the onset of male puberty and has also begun to receive hormone therapy with estrogen. Pepper-Jackson\u2019s mother, Heather Jackson, went to federal court in West Virginia when she learned that her state\u2019s law would bar Pepper-Jackson from participating on the girls\u2019 middle school sports teams.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit \u00a0with Hecox that the Idaho law violates the 14th Amendment\u2019s guarantee of equal treatment and prohibited Idaho from enforcing the ban. The court of appeals reasoned that the Idaho law was intended \u201cto categorically ban transgender women and girls from public school sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.\u201d The law also discriminates on the basis of sex, the lower court ruled, because athletes on girls\u2019 and women\u2019s teams are subject \u201cto invasive sex verification procedures to implement that policy,\u201d while athletes on boys\u2019 and men\u2019s teams are not.<\/p>\n

A federal appeals court in Richmond also West Virginia from enforcing its law. Specifically, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled that West Virginia\u2019s law violates Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs and activities that receive federal funding, because it discriminates against Pepper-Jackson on the basis of sex.<\/p>\n

Read more The last grants of the 2025-26 term?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Supreme Court on Tuesday that states can exclude transgender athletes from women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports teams. The justices ruled unanimously that laws enacted by Idaho and West Virginia do not violate federal civil rights laws, but they divided over whether the West Virginia law violates the Constitution, at least with regard to the athlete […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-analysis"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams - American Service Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams - American Service Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Supreme Court on Tuesday that states can exclude transgender athletes from women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports teams. The justices ruled unanimously that laws enacted by Idaho and West Virginia do not violate federal civil rights laws, but they divided over whether the West Virginia law violates the Constitution, at least with regard to the athlete […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Service Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T15:43:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\"},\"headline\":\"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T15:43:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306\"},\"wordCount\":720,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/69081c8b213ab31dbde9a4c8bb10531f.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion Analysis\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306\",\"name\":\"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams - American Service Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/69081c8b213ab31dbde9a4c8bb10531f.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T15:43:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/69081c8b213ab31dbde9a4c8bb10531f.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/69081c8b213ab31dbde9a4c8bb10531f.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":627},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?p=306#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Service Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanservicereview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams - American Service Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams - American Service Review","og_description":"The Supreme Court on Tuesday that states can exclude transgender athletes from women\u2019s and girls\u2019 sports teams. The justices ruled unanimously that laws enacted by Idaho and West Virginia do not violate federal civil rights laws, but they divided over whether the West Virginia law violates the Constitution, at least with regard to the athlete […]","og_url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306","og_site_name":"American Service Review","article_published_time":"2026-06-30T15:43:09+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb"},"headline":"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams","datePublished":"2026-06-30T15:43:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306"},"wordCount":720,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/69081c8b213ab31dbde9a4c8bb10531f.jpg","articleSection":["Opinion Analysis"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306","name":"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams - American Service Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/69081c8b213ab31dbde9a4c8bb10531f.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-30T15:43:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/69081c8b213ab31dbde9a4c8bb10531f.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/69081c8b213ab31dbde9a4c8bb10531f.jpg","width":1200,"height":627},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?p=306#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports teams"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/","name":"American Service Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/220bfdac1627513926924476de32dedb","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanservicereview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanservicereview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}