Supreme Court lets states bar transgender students from girls' and women's school sports

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws that restrict transgender students from participating in girls' and women's sports at public schools and universities.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority in consolidated cases from Idaho and West Virginia, said the central legal question under Title IX is whether schools may maintain girls' and women's sports for biological females. "The answer is yes," he wrote, and said the challenged laws satisfy the relevant level of equal-protection scrutiny. Kavanaugh added that "no student athlete on either side of the issue, whether a biological female or transgender, deserves to be ostracized or vilified."

The ruling applies to participation in school sports and does not directly address other areas such as employment or broader federal civil-rights protections, the report said. The decision leaves in place similar laws and policies in roughly 29 states that limit transgender athletes' participation in female-designated school athletics.

Outside the Supreme Court, some supporters cheered the decision. A supporter said, "We are thrilled," and added the group had worked on the issue for more than eight years. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin posted on Facebook saying he supports the decision that upheld the laws in Idaho and West Virginia.

Not all justices agreed. Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a separate opinion narrowly concurring with the majority as to Title IX while dissenting on equal-protection grounds, saying there are unresolved factual questions that bear on the constitutional analysis.

California Democratic Congressman Pete Aguilar urged that such questions be resolved at the local level, saying coaches, teachers, parents and students should be able to "arrive at a conclusion that they can live with."

Legal analysts and reporters noted the case is likely to shape related disputes over transgender access in other contexts, including discussions on bathroom access and military service. The decision follows a prior high-court ruling that allowed states to place restrictions on transgender medical care for minors.

The ruling is limited in scope to school athletic participation; court filings and the opinion will determine how lower courts and schools interpret the decision in coming weeks and months.