Protecting Girls’ Sports: Progress at the Supreme Court
This week’s Supreme Court ruling is a significant victory for states seeking to protect girls’ and women’s sports. But despite the headlines, the Court did not create a nationwide rule. Whether biological males can compete in girls’ sports still depends largely on where they live.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld laws in Idaho and West Virginia that reserve girls’ and women’s school sports for biological females, ruling that these laws are constitutional and do not violate Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause.
Here’s what many people are missing: the decision allows states to protect girls’ sports, but it does not require every state to do so. States with laws protecting girls’ sports may continue enforcing them. States that allow biological males who identify as transgender to compete in girls’ sports—including California, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Massachusetts—are not required to change their policies.
In other words, America remains divided. Whether girls’ sports are reserved for biological females still depends largely on the state where you live.
Could that change? Yes. State legislatures, governors, Congress, or future Supreme Court decisions could eventually establish a nationwide standard. But that question was not decided in this week’s ruling.
Bottom line: The Supreme Court affirmed that states may protect girls’ sports based on biological sex. It did not rule that every state must do so.
Do you believe protecting girls’ sports should depend on your ZIP code, or should there be one national standard?
Contact your U.S. Representatives and Senators and urge them to support legislation establishing participation in girls’ and women’s school sports based on biological sex.
