U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Cases on Boys in Girls Sports
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases concerning state laws protecting women’s and girls sports.
The Court will decide whether states have the constitutional authority to ban males from competing in female athletics.
The Court will consider the cases, Little v. Hecox and State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., in its next term beginning in October, with a decision likely by June 2026.
In Little v. Hecox, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador is asking the Court to uphold his state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. In 2020, when Idaho enacted the law, it became the first state in the nation to limit participation in women’s and girls sports in public schools to females. Now, 25 states have passed similar laws protecting women’s and girls sports.
However, following Idaho’s enactment of the law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld an injunction against the law because it prevents “transgender women and girls” – males who identify as women and girls – from competing in “women’s student athletics.”
This decision by the Ninth Circuit, according to Labrador’s petition for writ of certiorari (request the Supreme Court hear the case), “break[s] with [the Supreme Court’s] precedents, its own caselaw, other circuit decisions, and biological reality.”
Now that the Court has agreed to hear the case, the justices will consider the follow question:
“Idaho’s women and girls deserve an equal playing field,” said Labrador in a statement. “I am thrilled the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear our case.”
He added,
In State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey is asking the Supreme Court to uphold his state’s law protecting female athletes from males invading their sports.
After the state enacted the law, a parent sued on behalf of their male child (B.P.J.), arguing the state must allow males onto the girls’ teams.
The district court sided with the state. Subsequently, however, a divided panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted an injunction against West Virgina’s law, decreeing West Virginia could not “prevent transgender girls” – males identifying as girls – “from playing on girls teams.”
Unsurprisingly, B.P.J. then “beat and displaced hundreds of girls in track and field,” West Virginia’s attorney general told the Supreme Court in his petition for a writ of certiorari.
Now that the Court has taken up the case, the justices will consider two questions:
- Whether Title IX prevents a state from consistently designating girls’ and boys’ sports teams based on biological sex determined at birth.
- Whether the Equal Protection Clause prevents a state from offering separate boys’ and girls’ sports teams based on biological sex determined at birth.
“It’s a great day, as female athletes in West Virginia will have their voices heard,” McCuskey said in a statement, adding,
Both cases are being supported by attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
“Women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field. But activists continue their quest to erase differences between men and women by forcing schools to allow men to compete in women’s sports,” said ADF CEO, President, and Chief Counsel Kristen Waggoner in a statement. “This contradicts biological reality and common sense.”
Waggoner added,
It’s not an overstatement to say that the fate of thousands of women’s and girls’ athletic opportunities – not to mention their safety, and simple common sense – hinges upon the Supreme Court’s decision. Please pray for the justices as they consider these cases.
The Daily Citizen will keep you updated as these crucial cases proceed.
Related articles and resources:
Middle School Girls Who Protested ‘Trans’ Athlete Are Banned From Future Competition
West Virginia Passes ‘Save Girls Sports’ Act
Photo from Alliance Defending Freedom.
