The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states can legally bar biological men from competing in women’s sports — a landmark decision poised to reshape transgender policy battles nationwide.
The high court issued a 6-3 ruling upholding state laws that exclude biological males from women’s athletics, finding the restrictions do NOT violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion.
“The question before the Court is: Under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may schools maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females? In other words, may schools determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex? The answer is yes.”
Kavanaugh wrote that schools may lawfully separate sports by biological sex under Title IX — the federal law governing sex discrimination in education.
The ruling came in consolidated challenges to state laws barring biological men from female athletic competition. Lower courts had split on whether such bans violated constitutional protections.
Tuesday’s decision hands conservatives and parents’ rights advocates a major victory. It affirms that biological reality — not self-declared gender identity — can govern athletic eligibility policies in public schools.
The three liberal justices dissented.
The ruling arrives as more than 20 states have enacted similar protections for women’s sports. Activists on the left have challenged these laws as discriminatory, while supporters argue they preserve fairness and safety for female athletes.
With the Supreme Court now weighing in, the decision is expected to influence pending litigation in lower courts and embolden additional states to pass protective legislation.
Title IX, enacted in 1972, prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. The statute has been at the center of fierce legal battles over transgender access to locker rooms, bathrooms, and athletic teams.
Kavanaugh’s majority opinion clarifies that separating sports by biological sex does NOT constitute unlawful discrimination under the amendment or Title IX. Schools retain authority to structure women’s athletics around biology, not gender identity.
The ruling marks one of the Supreme Court’s most significant pronouncements on transgender policy to date — and a win for parents and coaches who’ve fought to keep women’s sports female.
