Supreme Court Leans Toward Allowing Transgender Sports Bans

The U.S. Supreme Court on January 13th leaned towards upholding Idaho and West Virginia's bans that prohibit males from playing on female school sports teams after hearing almost three and a half hours of back-to-back oral arguments in two cases. The athletes who brought challenges to the two state laws are males who identify as female and want to play on female teams at their respective schools. Two federal appeals courts ruled against the states. Idaho and West Virginia argued that their respective laws are consistent with the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, a federal civil rights law that forbids sex-based discrimination at any school that receives federal funding. The majority of the Supreme Court justices seemed to support the bans. Obviously, one of the great successes in America over the last 50 years has been the growth of women's and girls' sports, and it's inspiring, conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh said. He noted that the federal government, certain states, the NCAA governing body for college sports, and the U.S. Olympic Committee think that allowing transgender women and girls to participate will undermine or reverse that amazing success and will create unfairness.