The Supreme Court of the United States has US states allowed to exclude trans girls and women from competing on women’s and girls’ sports teams. By a 6-3 majority, the court ruled that US states could regulate participation in women’s and girls’ sports based on their assigned sex at birth. In doing so, the court upheld laws from West Virginia and Idaho Exclude trans athletes from girls’ and women’s teams.
Richter Brett Kavanaugh justified the majority decision with safety aspects and fair competition – and referred to physical differences between men and women. Neither the principle of equal treatment in the constitution nor a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on gender in the education sector would conflict with the decision that has now been made.
The majority also ruled that states do not have to conduct case-by-case assessments for trans athletes who have taken puberty blockers or hormones. Such assessments are hardly practical – legislators and schools are better suited to make the necessary considerations.
Important legal questions remain open
The three judges, who were considered liberal, disagreed with the decision. Sonia Sotomayor accused the conservative majority of undermining the principle of equal treatment and excluding trans students from school sports. However, the court left open the reverse question of whether states should still allow trans athletes to participate in sports. This question was not the subject of the proceedings, it said in the judgment.
US President Donald Trump hailed the verdict as a “great victory”. The Supreme Court has ruled against “men in women’s sports,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. This means that this “ridiculous situation” is off the table.
The ruling is one of the Supreme Court’s most far-reaching decisions to date on the rights of trans people. In recent years, according to the court, 27 US states have passed laws that exclude trans people from women’s and girls’ sports. With the decision, the highest court strengthens their legal basis.