The Supreme Court upheld state-level bans on transgender competitors playing girls’ sports in Idaho and West Virginia in a landmark decision with major implications for more than half the country where similar policies are in place.
In a 6-3 opinion, in which the liberal justices concurred and dissented in part, the high court determined that neither state had violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by enacting the bans.
But the majority opinion also underscored the importance of treating transgender athletes with respect.
“Most of the biological female and transgender student-athletes who are involved in transgender sports disputes around the country are teenagers or in their early twenties,” Republican appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion.
“Those student athletes want to play sports. Their desire to compete warrants respect. No student-athlete on either side of the issue, whether a biological female or transgender, deserves to be ostracized or vilified.”
