Supreme Court rules states can decide to ban trans athletes from girls' sports
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The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that states are allowed to ban transgender girls and women from participating and competing in sports at public schools.
The decision marks a devastating blow to those championing LGBTQ+ rights as Pride Month comes to an end.
In a unanimous decision, the 6-3 conservative-majority court ruled that laws in Idaho and West Virginia did not violate the US Constitution or Title IX.
The suits were filed by Becky Pepper-Jackson, a West Virginia high school student who is transgender and who competes in track, and senior Lindsay Hecox, who attends Boise State University.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh said, “Separate sports teams for biological males and biological females are reasonable.”
“Given the inherent physical differences between the sexes, allowing only biological females to play on women’s and girls’ teams can reduce the risk of physical injury and ensure fair competition.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor penned a dissenting opinion, alongside her liberal colleagues, that the Supreme Court “inflicts a hardship on those it disfavors without giving them the fair and full opportunity the Constitution requires to litigate their contentions.”
She also expressed that there was not sufficient evidence to show that transgender girls and women had an “inherent physical advantage” across the board from one sport to another.
President Donald Trump reacted to the news on Truth Social Tuesday, calling it a “big win:” “The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS. Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!"
LGBTQ+ activists also responded to the news, saying that while it was claiming to ensure fairness, the court was doing the exact opposite.
“By allowing sweeping restrictions on a very small number of transgender students who simply wanted to participate in sports alongside their peers, the ruling creates an unnecessarily unfair playing field,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president of GLAAD, said in a statement.