Supreme Court enters the fray over transgender athletes in women’s sports, setting up legal clash next term

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to take up cases over whether states can ban biological males from competing in female school sports, in what is expected to be a blockbuster legal battle amid a national debate over transgender issues.

The cases stem from disputes over whether West Virginia and Idaho can enforce their laws aiming to protect female athletes since biological male athletes often have “categorically different strength, speed, and endurance,” the laws note. Both states asked the Supreme Court to step in after their laws were hindered by federal appeals courts. 

“This is huge,” women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines wrote on X following the Supreme Court order. “Finally, girls’ voices are being heard.”  

Alliance Defending Freedom, which is helping represent the states, said it is “pleased the court will listen to the countless girls across the country speaking out on this issue.” 

“Women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field. But activists continue their quest to erase differences between men and women by forcing schools to allow men to compete in women’s sports,” ADF president Kristen Waggoner said in a statement Thursday. “This contradicts biological reality and common sense. We should be seeking to protect women’s sports and equal opportunities, and West Virginia’s and Idaho’s women’s sports laws accomplish just that.” 

The Supreme Court order taking up the cases comes mere weeks after it issued a landmark ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti when it upheld a Tennessee law that banned gender transition procedures for minors. That case has altered the legal landscape surrounding transgender issues, as The Lion recently reported, and the Supreme Court has already sent back multiple transgender-related cases to lower courts for reconsideration in light of its Skrmetti decision.  

Whether transgender athletes – especially biological males identifying as female – should be allowed to play against women has fueled fierce policy debate and became a major talking point of President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign last year. Since taking office, Trump has signed an executive order to keep “men out of women’s sports,” calling it “demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls” for biological males to compete against women. 

The Supreme Court will not hear arguments in the transgender athlete case until its next term, which begins in October. Groups supporting the transgender athletes who are suing over the state bans, including the American Civil Liberties Union, argue “school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status.” 

West Virginia Attorney General JB McCluskey has cast the state’s measure as a “commonsense law preserving women’s sports for women.” 

“It’s a great day, as female athletes in West Virginia will have their voices heard,” he said, adding that “the people of West Virginia know that it’s unfair to let male athletes compete against women.” 

Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said women and girls “deserve an equal playing field.” 

“For too long, activists have worked to sideline women and girls in their own sports,” he said. “Men and women are biologically different, and we hope the court will allow states to end this injustice and ensure men no longer create a dangerous, unfair environment for women to showcase their incredible talent and pursue the equal opportunities they deserve.”