US Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Transgender Athletes in Sports

US Supreme Court Upholds State Laws Banning Transgender Athletes from Female Sports Teams

The US Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in a 9-0 decision that state laws barring transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams do not violate the Title IX civil rights statute. The ruling applies to Idaho and West Virginia, which have enacted laws designating sports teams at public schools according to “biological sex” and excluding students of the male sex from female teams.

The court overturned decisions by lower courts that had sided with transgender students who challenged the bans as unconstitutional. In its decision, the majority wrote that the states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females and determine eligibility based on biological sex, citing Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.

The ruling has implications for other Republican-led states that have adopted similar bans on female transgender athletes. The Supreme Court’s decision is part of a trend of conservative rulings curbing the rights of transgender people. Last year, the court allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to enforce a policy blocking transgender and nonbinary individuals from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity.

The high court’s decision will likely extend to these other states as well.

Source: Al Jazeera