The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear its first cases challenging state laws that bar males who identify as transgender from competing in girls' athletics, setting up a major test of states' efforts to protect women and girls.
The two cases ask whether states may restrict participation in girls' sports based on biological sex, or whether such laws violate federal protections under the Constitution and Title IX.
At least 27 states have enacted similar laws aimed at preserving women's and girls' athletics.
"This could have huge implications for everything from women's sports to military policy to bathroom usage," Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network, told the New York Post.
The cases, Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., involve laws passed in Idaho and West Virginia that limit girls' sports teams to females. Though similar, the Supreme Court agreed to hear both to address different legal questions and factual circumstances.
The Idaho case arises from the state's Fairness in Women's Sports Act, enacted in 2020 to bar males from competing in girls' and women's sports statewide.
The law was challenged by Lindsay Hecox, who sought to compete on a Boise State University track team.
Lower courts blocked the law, ruling it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Idaho appealed to the Supreme Court after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction.
The West Virginia case centers on the state's Save Women's Sports Act, enacted in 2021. That law restricts participation in girls' sports in middle school through college to biological females.
The case was brought by Becky Pepper-Jackson, a high school student born male, after West Virginia's law restricted participation in girls' athletics. The law was later blocked by lower courts, triggering the appeal now before the Supreme Court.
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey has argued the law is necessary to preserve fair competition.
"There are immutable physical and biological characteristic differences between men and women that make men bigger, stronger, and faster than women," McCuskey told The Associated Press, warning that allowing biological males to compete would erode opportunities for girls.
Supporters of the bans argue the issue is about fairness and safety, not discrimination. Critics say the laws exclude transgender students who they say do not have competitive advantages, particularly those who transitioned before puberty.
At stake is whether federal law can be used to force schools to let biological males compete in girls' sports — or whether states retain the constitutional authority to protect women's athletics based on biological sex.
President Donald Trump cited Title IX last year in an executive order threatening to cut off federal funds to schools that allow males to compete in women's sports.
Court watchers say conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch could be pivotal.
Though he joined the majority in a recent ruling upholding state limits on transgender medical procedures for minors, Gorsuch previously sided with liberals in a 2020 workplace discrimination case involving gender identity.
"This is the first time the Supreme Court has taken these questions head-on," Severino said. "The outcome will shape the future of women's sports nationwide."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.