Supreme Court hearing arguments over trans athletes

by · UPI

Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case challenging state laws that ban transgender girls and women from participating in women's sports programs.

The cases focus on laws in Idaho and West Virginia but could have broader effects on transgender student athletes across the country.

At the center of the hearings are Lindsay Hecox, a trans woman seeking to participate in collegiate track in Idaho, and Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 15-year-old track athlete who challenged West Virginia's 2021 ban on trans athletes.

Pepper-Jackson's legal team argues that West Virginia's ban violates Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs.

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In June, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on gender-affirming care for youth in Tennessee.

Idaho and West Virginia are two of 27 states in the United States that have laws banning transgender athletes from participating in sports.

The influx of laws banning trans athletes has come about despite there being relatively few instances of trans athletes participating in school sports across the country.

Pepper-Jackson is the only openly trans girl in West Virginia actively pursuing participation in a school sports program.

"All I've ever wanted was the same opportunities as my peers," she said in a statement last week. "But in 2021, politicians in my state passed a law banning me -- the only transgender student athlete in the entire state -- from playing as who I really am."

Last month, NCAA President Charlie Baker testified to a Senate panel that there are less than 10 transgender athletes competing in collegiate sports. The NCAA reports that more than 500,000 student athletes participated in NCAA championship sports alone in the 2024-2025 academic year.

There are several more sports that are not counted in this statistic because their championships are not governed by the NCAA.