Supreme Court makes ruling on trans athletes in women's sports

Supreme Court has ruled in favor of Idaho and West Virginia laws banning transgender athletes from female sports.

The Supreme Court has established a new nationwide precedent that allows states to protect women's sports.

The justices ruled in favor of West Virginia and Idaho on Thursday against trans athletes who sued to gain access to girls' sports. The states were backed by the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), while the trans athletes were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Cooley Legal.

In the highly-anticipated rulings in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, the high court upheld state laws requiring student-athletes to compete on sports teams that correspond with their biological sex at birth rather than their gender identity. 

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3.

Justice Sotomayor filed an opinion concurring with the judgment in part and dissenting in part, which Justices Kagan and Jackson joined. Jackson filed an opinion concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part.

Consistent with Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause, we hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex.

West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey praised the court's decision in a statement to Fox News Digital.

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Female athletes speak outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., after justices heard arguments on Jan. 13, 2026, regarding state bans on transgender athletes in women's sports. (Oliver Contreras/AFP)

"This is a monumental victory for every female athlete who has ever competed, or dreamed of competing, on a