Supreme Court Allows States to Ban Transgender Athletes from Women's Sports

President Donald Trump celebrated a high-profile, long-awaited Supreme Court ruling that allows states to ban transgender student-athletes from competing in female sports, describing it as a “Big Win.”

In a 6-3 Tuesday ruling, the justices upheld laws in West Virginia and Idaho that prohibit transgender athletes from joining girls’ and women’s teams at public schools and universities. The decision, issued on the final day of the court’s term, could have a sweeping impact, as 25 states have similar laws on the books.

“BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!”

The justices sided against the two young athletes who brought the cases, handing a victory to the Trump administration after the president made bans on transgender people a central theme of his 2024 campaign. Critics called the ruling a major blow to transgender rights.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett. Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch — the court’s two other conservative members — filed concurring opinions.

“The question before the Court is: Under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may schools maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females? In other words, may schools determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex? The answer is yes,” Kavanaugh wrote.

The court’s three liberal members — Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — all partially dissented.

In her dissent, Jackson wrote: “Title IX makes room for individuals to live in the gender they choose; it cares not just about sex assigned at birth but also about individuals’ ability to match (or not) their gender presentation to their gender identity.”

Thomas, a George H.W. Bush appointee and the longest-serving member of the court, denied that trans people exist in his concurring opinion, writing: “Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are.”

The two cases placed the justices at the heart of a nationwide debate over transgender athletes — an issue that dominated the 2024 campaign and prompted dozens of GOP-led states to pass restrictive laws.

Idaho became the first state to enact a ban in 2020, and West Virginia followed suit in 2021. Supporters say the laws ensure fair and safe competition for girls and women, while critics view them as part of a broader attack on transgender rights.

Multiple trans athletes, supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued to overturn the bans on grounds that they breach the 14th Amendment’s equal protection guarantee and Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination in federally funded education programs. Becky Pepper-Jackson, a high school track-and-field athlete, brought the challenge to West Virginia’s law. Lindsay Hecox, a transgender student who previously played soccer at Boise State University, challenged the Idaho ban. She later quit sports and attempted to dismiss the case.

Oral arguments were heard in January.

Tuesday’s ruling drew swift reactions from civil rights organizations, elected officials and athletes.

Riley Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer and conservative political activist, wrote on X: “This ruling doesn't mean they MUST have women's sports, just that it's not illegal if they do. Nonetheless, it's a victory!”

“The continued attacks on transgender young people in this country must stop,” Jaymes Black, CEO of the Trevor Project, said in a statement. “Today’s news has nothing to do with safety or fairness in sports; these rulings only serve to send a message to transgender and nonbinary young people that says, ‘you don’t belong.’”

“This ruling is deeply harmful for transgender women and girls who only asked for the ability to participate in sports with their peers,” Sasha Buchert, the director of the Non-Binary and Transgender Rights Project, said in a news release.

In a 2025 Pew Research Center survey, 66 percent of respondents supported requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams aligned with their sex assigned at birth. The survey also found that 56 percent favored prohibiting health care providers from offering gender transition-related care to minors. An equal share backed policies protecting trans people from discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.

The conservative-majority Supreme Court has previously backed multiple restrictions on trans people, including by allowing the Trump administration to enforce a Pentagon policy banning trans people from serving in the military.