(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court said Thursday that it would hear appeals from two states seeking to uphold laws excluding transgender student athletes from participation in girls’ and women’s sports teams.
The cases from West Virginia and Idaho — which will be scheduled for argument during the court’s next term — will decide whether the Constitution and Civil Rights Act prohibit the bans based on an athlete’s sex assigned at birth.
Lower courts in each of the cases sided with the student athletes in finding the state laws violated either the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause or Title IX of the Civil Rights Act.
The decision to hear the cases follows a decision by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority last month upholding state bans on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors.
Chief Justice John Roberts said the laws did not violate the 14th Amendment or discriminate on the basis of sex, even though the same medical treatments are widely available to cisgender minors.
The outcome of the case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, was one of the most significant LGBTQ rulings to come from the nation’s high court and marked the first time the justices weighed in on an anti-trans state law.
The trans-athlete cases will be argued in the fall and decided in 2026.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the cases involved are from only West Virginia and Idaho, not Arizona.
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