Supreme Court ruling allows states to bar male athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 June 30 that states may bar males from competing on women’s and girls’ school sports teams, in a decision that upholds laws in Idaho and West Virginia and is expected to affect similar laws passed in more than half the country’s states. 

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion in Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., and was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett. 

“Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females,” Kavanaugh explained. “They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America.”

“In other words, may schools determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex?” he said. “The answer is yes.”

Thomas, in a concurring opinion, stated that sex “is an immutable ‘biological’ characteristic.”

“Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are,” he wrote.

The justices also unanimously rejected the challengers’ Title IX claims. The court’s three liberal justices dissented from the constitutional holding.

“The majority extends great sympathy to those it favors: the young cisgender girls and women who play sports. I share that sympathy. Playing sports can lead to benefits that are immeasurable, and many are understandably invested in ensuring that competition stays fair and safe,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in partial dissent. “Because the majority, however, inflicts a hardship on those it disfavors without giving them the fair and full opportunity the Constitution requires to litigate their contentions, I respectfully dissent.” 

Kristen Waggoner of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented Idaho officials in the case, highlighted a passage from Kavanaugh’s opinion that she called “beautiful,” noting it was written, “as only a girls’ coach could have written it.” 

“Some might ask: What is the harm in allowing an additional athlete to compete in women’s or girls’ sports?” Kavanaugh wrote in the highlighted section. “That sentiment, though understandable, misunderstands the nature and reality of sports.” 

Kavanaugh — who has coached girls’ basketball for many years, including his daughters’ teams, according to The Washington Post — noted that sports are “highly competitive,” with every roster spot, starting position, medal, award, or scholarship earned by one athlete affecting another. 

Female athletes spend “extraordinary time and effort” working “to get a little, to become a little stronger, to jump a little higher,” he wrote, and their accomplishments often remain lifelong sources of pride.

“Whether the star of the team or the last player on the bench, they form lifelong friendships and lifetime memories,” Kavanaugh added. “They savor their athletic accomplishments and cherish them for years, even decades, after their playing days are over.”

The court’s decision reversed lower-court rulings that had blocked Idaho and West Virginia laws restricting male participation in female sports. The 9th Circuit had ruled against Idaho under the Equal Protection Clause, while the 4th Circuit had held that West Virginia’s law violated Title IX.

Challenges to the states’ laws were brought by Lindsay Hecox in Idaho and Becky Pepper-Jackson in West Virginia, two male students who identify as “transgender” and had sought to compete on girls’ and women’s sports teams. Idaho enacted the nation’s first such law in 2020, followed by West Virginia in 2022.

The Trump administration previously voiced support for the states, as did the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, several Republican-led states, and female athletes. 

CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt celebrated the ruling, saying in an X post that girls would now have the “same fair shot” she had as a former basketball player at the University of Notre Dame: “competing at the highest level without facing unfair competition, fear of injury or losing privacy in locker rooms.”

“Huge win in the 27 states where the Supreme Court ruled they MAY keep men out of women’s sports,” Reinhardt stated. “But we need the Court to finish the job: rule that states MUST follow the biological reality Title IX was written for: WOMEN!”

According to an ADF list, 27 states have enacted laws restricting males from competing in women’s and girls’ sports. Those states include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

President Donald Trump also celebrated the decision in a Truth Social post moments after the ruling came down.

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