US3 min(s) read
Published 16:24 30 Jun 2026 GMT
President Donald Trump is celebrating after the US Supreme Court ruled that states can ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports.
The court voted 6 to 3 to overturn lower court decisions that had sided with transgender students challenging laws in Idaho and West Virginia.
The justices ruled that the state laws do not violate the Constitution, while unanimously agreeing that the restrictions also do not breach the federal anti-discrimination law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.
Reacting to the decision, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "The United States Supreme Court just ruled against men playing in women's sports. Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!"
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the majority opinion that "states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females."
The ruling allows schools in Idaho and West Virginia to determine eligibility for girls' and women's sports teams based on a person's sex assigned at birth. The decision is also expected to influence similar laws across the country.
The legal battle centered on Idaho's Fairness in Women's Sports Act, passed in 2020, and West Virginia's Save Women's Sports Act, passed in 2021. Lower courts had previously blocked both laws after finding they violated constitutional protections and Title IX, leading the Republican led states to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Trump made transgender issues a major part of his 2024 presidential campaign, including running advertisements criticizing then Democratic nominee Kamala Harris' policies.
Ahead of the election, Trump also said in a Truth Social video: "The left-wing gender insanity being pushed at our children is an act of child abuse."
He continued: "Very simple. Here's my plan to stop the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth."
The issue has remained one of the most closely watched cultural and legal debates in the United States.
Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, who competed on the women's team after previously swimming on the men's team, became one of the most recognizable figures in the debate.
Thomas previously responded to critics in an interview with WHYY: "You don't get to pick and choose when you see me as a woman. You don't get to say, 'You can be a woman in these situations, but not in these' because you would never do that to a cis woman."
More recently, California high school athlete AB Hernandez drew national attention after winning the girls' high jump, long jump and triple jump events at the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Track and Field Masters meet, adding fresh attention to the discussion over transgender participation in girls' and women's sports.
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