The United States Supreme Court agreed to take up cases over state bans regarding what school sports transgender individuals are allowed to participate in.
The court's justices will hear cases that involve two transgender students, identified as Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox. They have challenged the currently enforced state bans in West Virginia and Idaho, respectively.
Cases Regarding Transgenders in School Sports
The two students both won injunctions that allowed them to continue to compete in sports. Pepper-Jackson, who is 15 years old, is known to be taking puberty-blocking medication. On the other hand, 24-year-old Hecox is a college student who received testosterone suppression and estrogen treatments.
The Supreme Court's decision to hear the cases comes two weeks after its conservative majority upheld a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors. That particular development left various legal questions regarding transgender rights unresolved.
A lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, Joshua Block, said categorically excluding kids from school sports simply because they are transgender will only make educational institutions more hurtful places for kids, according to NBC News.
Read more: Supreme Court Allows Parents To Opt Their Children Out From Lessons Featuring LGBTQ Books
Block, who is part of the legal team that is representing the two students, added that the lower courts were correct in blocking the "discriminatory" laws. He said they will continue to defend the freedom of all children to play sports.
Now, West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey welcomed the Supreme Court's intervention in the cases. He said that the people of his state know that it is unfair to allow male athletes to compete against women in sports, noting that the bans were implemented to preserve women's sports for women.
Supreme Court To Hear Cases on Issue
The first state in the country to issue a ban on transgender women joining female public school sports was Idaho. Since then, more than 20 other states have followed by implementing similar sport restrictions targeting transgender women, Jurist reported.
The Supreme Court will start to hear arguments regarding the cases, which have been granted certiorari in its next term, starting from Oct. 6, 2025. The situation comes as, at the federal level, President Donald Trump's administration has filed various lawsuits and launched investigations over state and school policies allowing transgender athletes to compete freely in sports.
Last week, the University of Pennsylvania modified a trio of school records that were set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. School officials said they would apologize to female athletes who were "disadvantaged" by her participation on the women's swimming team, as per the Weirton Daily Times.
