US Supreme Court set to rule on legality of state transgender sports bans

The US Supreme Court is set to rule on legality of state laws especially in West Virginia and Idaho which imposed a ban on transgender student athletes from female sports teams in schools and universities.

At the heart of the issue lies the opposition of bans that transgender students consider as a violation of the US constitution’s 14th Amendment, federal anti-discrimination law and the Title IX civil rights statute.

The lower court backed the transgender students in their arguments. Tuesday is the final day of rulings for the court's current term, which began in October.

Legislatures in Idaho, West Virginia, and twenty-five other states have enacted laws requiring public school and university sports teams to be categorized by "biological sex.” Under these laws, students who identified as male at birth are barred from participating.

Previously, the Biden administration challenged such discriminatory policies. But recent Trump administration;s policies align with these laws, thereby backing the states in the lawsuit.

Following his 2025 inauguration, President Trump issued several executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, aimed to define "sex" at the federal level based strictly on biological sex assigned at birth.

According to proponents, these bans are important to maintain a safe environment for girls and women. On the contrary, the critics slammed these laws as unfair and discriminatory, responsible for undermining the rights of transgenders.

In another major 2025 ruling in a case from Tennessee, the Supreme Court upheld the law, allowing the states to ban medical treatments such as hormones and puberty blockers for under-18 teens. The court also supported the other restrictions on transgender people.