Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender girls in school sports

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Idaho and West Virginia laws that bar transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports teams at public schools and universities, a ruling that immediately strengthens similar restrictions in 27 states and leaves thousands of K-12 and college athletes subject to sex-based eligibility rules.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court’s 6-3 conservative majority that Title IX and the Constitution do not require schools to overhaul women’s and girls’ sports to match a student’s gender identity. The court rejected claims that the bans violate Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause, delivering a legal victory for Republican-led states that have defined school sports by biological sex.

The decision settles, for now, a fight over the reach of Title IX, the 1972 law that helped expand women’s sports by requiring equal treatment, scholarships and facilities in education. It also gives new force to state laws that had been tied up in litigation for years, including Idaho’s 2020 ban and West Virginia’s 2021 law. Inside Higher Ed identified both measures as the laws the court upheld after oral arguments in January 2026.

The practical effect reaches beyond the two states named in the case. Reuters reported that 25 other states have similar laws on the books, while NPR said 27 states have barred transgender women and girls from participating in girls’ sports. The ruling also arrives against a broader policy shift: Reuters said the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee have barred transgender athletes from women’s sports, and that the NCAA had already done the same after Donald Trump signed an executive order in his second term.

One of the plaintiffs, Lindsey Hecox, challenged Idaho’s ban after being blocked from trying out for Boise State University’s women’s track team. The outcome leaves open some lower-level questions, including how the ruling will apply to younger schoolchildren, since many grammar-school teams are already co-ed. But for public schools and universities, the decision gives state lawmakers and athletic administrators a clear national precedent that schools may separate teams by biological sex.

Reaction split sharply along familiar lines. Trump called the decision a “BIG WIN” on Truth Social. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said it would bring “certainty, fairness, and opportunity” for future generations of female athletes. The ruling now stands as the court’s clearest endorsement yet of state authority to restrict transgender participation in school sports.