Supreme Court Takes Up State Bans On Trans Student Athletes
Oral arguments are expected to take place this fall, with a ruling likely to happen in 2026.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will take up two pivotal cases next term involving state bans on transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports at high school and collegiate levels. The cases, out of West Virginia and Idaho, involve transgender student athletes, Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox, who are challenging state laws that ban them from participating on teams that align with their gender identity.
The court was asked to take up the state appeals against lower court decisions that blocked the bans from taking effect and sided with transgender student athletes. The court will determine whether the laws that restrict transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and the protections guaranteed under the Civil Rights Act.
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The Court’s decision to hear these cases comes in the wake of its conservative majority upholding a devastating Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical care for young people. The broader national debate around transgender girls and women competing in women’s sports has been fueled by President Trump’s executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which has played a drastic role in shaping public discourse and legal challenges around transgender inclusion in athletics.
“Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status. Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do—to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,” said Joshua Block, Senior Counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, in a press release on Thursday. “Categorially excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”
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Oral arguments are expected to take place this fall, with a ruling likely to happen in 2026. The decisions of these cases could have sweeping implications for the rights and protections of transgender athletes and the future of gender equality in American sports.
