Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports [View all]

Source: NBC News

June 30, 2026, 10:04 AM EDT / Updated June 30, 2026, 10:08 AM EDT


WASHINGTON — Delivering another major blow to LGBTQ rights, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws that ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports.

The court, largely divided 6-3, ruled against two transgender students, Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox, who had challenged restrictive laws in West Virginia and Idaho, respectively.

The court in an opinion authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh concluded that the laws do not violate either the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which requires that the law apply evenly to everyone, or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars sex discrimination in education.

“The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America,” Kavanaugh wrote. He expressed sympathy for transgender girls and women who desire to play sports, saying “their desire to compete warrants respect” and that they should not be “ostracized or vilified.” Although the ruling directly concerns only West Virginia and Idaho, it is likely to affect 25 other states with similar bans.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-upholds-state-transgender-sports-bans-rcna261384