The Supreme Court agreed Thursday to consider state efforts to ban men from women’s sports.
The justices agreed to take up two cases considering bans in West Virginia and Idaho, West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, brought by male students who identify as female.
“Women and girls have overcome decades of discrimination to achieve a more equal playing field in many arenas of American life—including sports,” Idaho’s petition states. “Yet in some competitions, female athletes have become bystanders in their own sports as male athletes who identify as female have taken the place of their female competitors—on the field and on the winners’ podium.”
More than half of the country’s states have passed bans restricting men from competing in women’s sports.
The cases ask the justices to consider whether the bans violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, as well as Title IX in West Virginia’s case.
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey said he is “confident” the Supreme Court will uphold his state’s Save Women’s Sports Act.
“It’s a great day, as female athletes in West Virginia will have their voices heard,” McCuskey said in a statement. “The people of West Virginia know that it’s unfair to let male athletes compete against women; that’s why we passed this commonsense law preserving women’s sports for women.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February restricting men from competing in women’s sports under Title IX, threatening to pull funding from schools that do not comply. The Department of Education has launched several investigations over the issue, finding California’s transgender sports policy failed to comply with federal law in June.
In June, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on child sex change procedures.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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