Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports

[BumRushDaShow]

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

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Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-43_2b35.pdf

Article updated.

Original article/headline -

Supreme Court upholds state transgender sports bans

Jun. 30, 2026, 10:04 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 the states of 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.

Although the ruling directly concerns only West Virginia and Idaho, it is likely to affect 25 other states with similar bans.

[underpants]

1. That sucks.

Boooo!

[JoFerret]

13. Fairness for women and girls. And you Boo?

Why

[LakeVermilion]

2. My view has always been...

If anyone who pays taxes to government supported schools/activities, they should have access. Sort of a taxation without representation view.

[Felicita]

5. They can still participate

in men's sports in most jurisdictions, so they still have access to sports and can benefit from their taxes.
Many people are concerned that if, for example, a large, very physically fit male swimmer were to convert his gender and then participate in a women's swim competition, it would be unfair to women athletes who have trained for years to be at the top of their category. Unfortunately, like another post pointed out, the exclusion in women's sports often involves transphobia, especially amongst right wingers.

[TBF]

8. You do understand that someone doesn't snap

their fingers and become another gender, correct?

This is a process with hormone treatments that can literally take up to 5 years.

[manicdem]

9. Hormones aren't required

Since when was it a requirement for a person to get hormone treatments to change genders?

[Felicita]

10. Yes, I understand, but what if he had Michael Phelp's body type?

Even 5 years of hormone treatment would not make those long arms and the huge torso disappear. And even with hormones, if the person were training for a sport, they could still have plenty of large muscles attached to those large bones.

[TBF]

11. That is so unlikely though -

how many Michael Phelps come along in a generation? And given the number of actual trans folks in this country, I can't help feeling this is a non-issue that is just being used to split us.

For example, the republicans in Texas are running a very corrupt Ken Paxton for senate. They went right to wedge issues to attack Talarico: he likes transgenders, he's a vegetarian, blah blah blah - any smear they can throw at him that will get their base frothing at the mouth.

[Felicita]

12. Please know I am not against

transgender men and women at all. It's just that the sports issue is complex. Perhaps the best solution is a transgender category(s), as some people have proposed, so everyone feels comfortable.

[JoFerret]

14. No one is banned. Everyone can still play

This is about male bodies in women's sports. SCOTUS went 9 to 0 on supporting Title IX.

It's just that some people seem to believe that boys and men are female if they say they are.
Look, we either support women's rights for safety and fair play. Or we don't.
Male physical advantage is a scientific fact. We ALL know that.
No one has ever changed sex, and it's sexed bodies that play sports, not self-selected gender identities.
Trans athletes compete in the Olympics, but as the sex that was determined at conception, developed in utero, and observed and registered at birth. We are all male or female. A simple cheek swab is all that is necessary to determine which one we are, however much we may wish not to be that sex.

[walkingman]

3. The REAL question - Is this an issue about fairness in sports or is this issue about transphobia?

Most people oppose allowing transgender athletes not because they are concerned about fairness for women, but because they are negatively biased against transgender people.

Then politics takes the stage.....

A wedge issue is a controversial political topic that candidates running for public office raise in order to attract or alienate the opponents' supporters.

[J_William_Ryan]

4. "Is this an issue about fairness in sports or is this issue about transphobia?"

It’s about unwarranted fear and hatred of transgender Americans – fear and hate codified by a bigoted conservative Court.

[timms139]

6. It has to do

with people who can't accept the fact that some people are born different . The only choice they really have is to hide the way they were born to keep from being wrongfully excluded . It is brought on by views and old beliefs pounded into folks heads years ago who continue to pound it into their children's head . Mostly today it is those that are uneducated that causes the problems for these folks .