US Supreme Court upholds bans on transgender women in female school and college sports

"The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women's and girls' sports throughout America," wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh who authored the ruling.In her partial dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the majority opinion had applied "a diminished view of Equal protection" to sports.The challenge launched in Idaho came from Lindsay Hecox, a long distance runner, who lodged it shortly after the law was enacted. She was later granted an injunction by both a district court and an appeals court.State lawmaker Barbara Ehardt, who introduced the law, said at the time of its passing that it would ensure "boys and men will not be able to take the place of girls and women in sports because it's not fair".But in the appeals ruling, a panel of three judges found that the Idaho law violated constitutional rights. They said the state had failed to provide evidence that its ban protects "sex equality and opportunity for women athletes".President Donald Trump made the issue of transgender athletes in women's sports a regular focus of his 2024 election campaign. Last year, he signed an executive order that aimed to ban transgender women from competing on female sports teams.Following that decision, the NCAA, the governing body for US college sports, banned transgender women from competing in women's sports.Supporters of the bans argued that transgender women had a biological advantage over athletes who were recorded female at birth.