Court considers Idaho and West Virginia laws that restrict participation; decision is expected in June
This Tuesday (13), the Supreme Court of Justice dives into the controversial discussion about the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports. The court, with a conservative majority, began hearing challenges to state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that ban these athletes from female categories.
More than twenty states in the country have approved, in recent years, laws that prevent athletes assigned male at birth from participating in women’s sports.
The Idaho case, which will be heard by the nine justices, originates from the Women’s Sports Equity Act of 2020, driven by the Republican majority in that state.
The legislation was challenged by a transgender athlete at a state university, Lindsay Hecox, and lower courts ruled that it violates the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.
“Idaho law classifies athletes by sex because sex is what matters in sports,” Idaho Attorney General Alan Hurst said during oral arguments on Tuesday.
“This directly correlates with numerous athletic advantages such as size, muscle mass, bone mass, and heart and lung capacity,” Hurst added. “If women don’t have their own competitions, they won’t be able to compete.”
Trump Factor
In West Virginia, the Protect Women’s Sports Act of 2021 was challenged by a high school student who was barred from competing on the women’s track and field team.
An appeals court ruled that the ban amounted to discrimination on the basis of sex and violated Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs.
Affected transgender athletes pressure the Supreme Court to declare these laws illegal and discriminatory.
“Government discrimination against transgender people will only intensify if this court determines that laws that discriminate against transgender Americans are presumptively constitutional,” Lindsay Hecox’s attorneys said in their written arguments.
In February 2025, the president issued a decree to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, after making the issue a banner in his campaign towards the White House.
“From now on, women’s sports will be for women only,” Trump said. “With this decree, the war against women’s sports ends.”
The executive order allows federal agencies to deny funding to schools that allow transgender athletes to compete on girls’ or women’s teams.
Lia Thomas case
A swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania (Upenn), Lia Thomas, became the target of controversy in this heated debate after competing in women’s university events in 2022.
Critical voices, including some fellow swimmers, said Thomas, who had previously been on the men’s team, should not have competed against women due to an unfair physiological advantage.
Lia Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania smiles after winning the 100-meter freestyle during the 2022 Ivy League Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
Upenn eventually agreed to ban transgender athletes from its women’s sports teams, resolving a federal civil rights complaint stemming from the controversy surrounding Thomas.
The move came after an investigation by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which determined that the university had violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete in women’s categories.
On the Supreme Court, conservatives outnumber liberals six to three. Last year, judges intervened in two high-profile cases involving transgender people.
The court upheld a Tennessee state law that prohibits gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors and upheld a Trump move to expel transgender service members from the military.
The decision on sports cases is expected in June or early July.
*With information from AFP
Published by Nícolas Robert
