States that still allow trans athletes in girls’ sports face pressure

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday that states may lawfully bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s school sports, upholding laws in Idaho and West Virginia that had been challenged by two transgender student-athletes. The decision, authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, shields the roughly two dozen states that already ban the practice by statute — but it left the choice up to the rest, and how many states that actually includes depends on who’s counting.

Fox News Digital, in a survey of governors’ offices, counted 27 states with statutory bans, 19 states that actively allow transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports, and four more that restrict participation through athletic-association or education-agency policy rather than state law. The nonprofit Movement Advancement Project, which separately tracks these policies nationally, counts it differently: 27 states with statutory bans, just two — Alaska and Virginia — with bans imposed through state regulation or agency policy, and 21 states, plus D.C. and the territories, with no ban in place at all. The difference comes down to how strictly a policy has to be enforced before it counts as a real ban, a distinction that matters most in Pennsylvania, addressed below.

California holds firm

California’s Assembly Bill 1266, in effect since 2014, requires that students be allowed to compete on teams matching their gender identity. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the ruling changes nothing in the state, telling Fox News Digital the decision “does not affect California’s laws.” Mr. Newsom’s office separately touted his record on transgender rights, noting California is among roughly two dozen states with such a law on the books.

The stance comes as California remains locked in a legal fight with the Trump administration. The Justice Department sued the state’s education department and its high school sports federation on July 9, 2025, alleging the policy violates Title IX, after transgender athlete AB Hernandez won a pair of state track and field titles.

Illinois, Hawaii signal no change

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office pointed to a post on X in which he called the ruling a “setback for equality,” writing that Illinois would remain a place where LGBTQ+ students “belong.” The Illinois High School Association allows transgender athletes to compete based on gender identity through a formal documentation policy, not state statute.

Hawaii’s Department of Education, which Gov. Josh Green’s office deferred to, said it would keep implementing its athletics policy under existing state law regardless of the ruling. Hawaii’s public schools have separately faced federal scrutiny over that policy, which is consistent with the “no change” position the department gave Fox News Digital.

Advertisement Advertisement

Nevada pushes the other way

Nevada has no law on the books, but Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo said the ruling gives him fresh momentum to change that. He said he intends to ask the Legislature to take up the issue in its 2027 session, calling it “an opportunity to provide a permanent, common-sense solution.”

The rest of the field

In Minnesota, Maine, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, transgender participation is currently allowed either through statute — as in New York, under the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act — or through policies set by state high school athletic associations.

Colorado voters will weigh in directly: A ballot measure on the November 2026 ballot could require school and college sports teams to be organized by biological sex. Minnesota’s and Maine’s education agencies are separately facing Justice Department lawsuits over their inclusion policies; Maine’s dispute followed a public clash between President Trump and Gov. Janet Mills in early 2025.

Advertisement Advertisement

Where agency policy, not law, restricts participation — and where that gets complicated

Two states have clear, uniformly enforced restrictions imposed outside the legislative process. Wisconsin’s high school athletic association barred any student assigned male at birth from competing — though not practicing — on a girls’ team starting in February 2025, a policy applied statewide without exception; Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed legislative attempts to write that ban into state law. Alaska’s high school activities association adopted a similar competition ban in 2023 at the state board of education’s request.

Virginia’s restriction, imposed through Department of Education model policy dating to the Youngkin administration, is less consistently enforced — trackers note that many school districts have resisted implementing it. 

Pennsylvania is the murkiest case, and arguably doesn’t belong in the same category. The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association scrapped its inclusive transgender-athlete policy in February 2025 and directed member schools to “consult with their school solicitors” on complying with Mr. Trump’s executive order on the subject — but it did not impose a uniform, binding ban, and implementation has varied by district. Philadelphia’s school system has said it will continue allowing transgender athletes to compete under its own board policy, and legal advocacy groups including the Education Law Center have argued PIAA’s rule change carries no legal force. 

Advertisement Advertisement

This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times' AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times' original reporting, wire services, and/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our AI policy or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at sfink@washingtontimes.com

The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.