WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari in two federal cases involving transgender youth challenging laws that ban their participation in school and college sports, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project, said, “School athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status. Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do—to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends.”
Block also stated, “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth.” The ACLU emphasized that it is fighting to protect the freedom of all students to participate in sports and to end discriminatory laws.
The ACLU highlighted the importance of sports for youth development, including benefits to fitness, leadership, and socialization.
The organization noted that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a ruling allowing the client, B.P.J., to continue participating in track events.
While Congress has not enacted a national ban, 27 states have passed laws banning transgender youth from school sports since 2020, the ACLU said.
Many of these laws permit invasive forms of sex testing, putting all female student athletes at risk and allowing school officials or adults to question and harass young women, the ACLU warned.
In one case, a 15-year-old junior varsity volleyball player in Florida was investigated by police following an anonymous accusation. The investigation prompted a 500-page report on her medical history, body weight, and anatomy, the ACLU said.
A similar incident occurred in Utah, where a teenage basketball player and her family faced violent threats after a state education board member accused her of being transgender.
In Maine, a teenager experienced a similar situation after being accused by a state senator, according to the ACLU.
The ACLU also pointed to an incident in which President Donald Trump publicly criticized a 16-year-old transgender girl for competing in a high school track meet.
Leading organizations and athletes—including the Women’s Sports Foundation, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, the National Women’s Law Center, Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, Dawn Staley, Sue Bird, and Brianna Turner—have opposed discrimination against transgender student athletes, the ACLU said.
The Supreme Court will hear two cases, according to the ACLU. The first, Little v. Hecox, involves a transgender and a cisgender athlete challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban on transgender athletes and its sex-testing requirements.
The second case, West Virginia v. B.P.J., was brought by a transgender teenager challenging West Virginia’s 2021 ban on transgender participation in school sports.
The ACLU said both lawsuits argue that the bans violate the rights of transgender and cisgender female students under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The West Virginia v. B.P.J. case also challenges the ban under Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education programs. Federal courts have blocked enforcement of the bans in both lawsuits, the ACLU said.
The ACLU noted that these cases are part of its Joan and Irwin Jacobs Supreme Court Docket.
