The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that states can bar transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports teams, upholding laws from West Virginia and Idaho. Justice Kavanaugh wrote that schools may determine eligibility based on biological sex under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. The decision affects 25 states with similar restrictions.

The challengers, Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox, argued the bans discriminated against transgender athletes. Pepper-Jackson, the only known transgender athlete in West Virginia, sought to join her school's girls cross-country and track teams. State officials maintained the laws protect women's sports by drawing permissible distinctions between sexes. President Trump's executive order already restricted federally funded programs from allowing transgender athletes to compete on gender-identity-aligned teams.

Justice Sotomayor read her dissent from the bench, calling the ruling 'heartbreaking' for transgender youth. She emphasized that the ban applies absolutely regardless of whether transgender athletes would actually displace others. The NCAA and International Olympic Committee have already updated policies limiting women's competition to athletes assigned female at birth.

The ruling follows the court's recent pattern of limiting transgender rights, including upholding Tennessee's restrictions on medical treatments for minors. Kavanaugh noted that Title VII's 2020 workplace protections don't apply here because sports and employment represent vastly different contexts. The ACLU condemned the decision as discriminatory against vulnerable youth seeking equal opportunities.