‘There’s a harm there’: Supreme Court appears to side with bans on men in women’s sports
A majority of the justices appeared to be on the side of female athletes like former college competitors Riley Gaines and Macy Petty who say it’s unfair and harmful to allow transgender-identifying males compete in women’s sports, Just the News reports.
The hearing Tuesday involved laws in West Virginia and Idaho that prohibit male athletes from competing in women’s sports in k-12 schools and colleges.
However, the court’s ruling “will likely impact bans passed in 27 states,” according to the report. Typically, the justices publish their rulings on major cases in May and June.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh seemed to lean toward upholding the states’ laws, CNN reports.
“For the individual girl who does not make the team or doesn’t get on the stand for the medal, or doesn’t make all-league, there’s a harm there, and I think we can’t sweep that aside,” Kavanaugh said.
Others also appeared to favor the states’ cases, according to Just The News:
Justice Samuel Alito noted that female athletes across the country have voiced opposition to biological boys identifying as girls competing against and alongside them.
“What do you say about them. Are they bigots?” Alito asked. “Are they deluded in thinking they are subjected to unfair competition?” …
The three liberal justices appeared sympathetic to the biological male athletes challenging the bans.
“The numbers don’t talk about the human beings,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said.
Ahead of the hearing, Idaho state Rep. Barbara Ehardt urged the high court to uphold her state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.
“Title IX was written as an ‘exclusive’ document for girls and women to have the same opportunities as boys and men. It’s time this intent be upheld by the highest court in the nation,” Ehardt said in a news release from the Kansas Family Foundation.
Ehardt, a former college basketball player and coach, wrote the 2020 Idaho law and, more recently, led an amicus brief to the Supreme Court arguing for the necessity of keeping sports separated by sex.
Former NCAA volleyball player Macy Petty also weighed in, sharing her personal experiences competing against men in college.
“I experienced the reality of competing against a trans-identifying male firsthand, and not only was it unfair, it introduced another level of risk and harm to myself and my female teammates,” Petty said in a news release from Concerned Women for America.
“Men’s and women’s volleyball are two different games given the biological realities between men and women. Females can never be safe, nor have a level playing field, if they are forced to compete against men,” Petty said. She is now a legislative strategist at CWA.
The conservative women’s organization also cited its 2025 research report, which “found that trans-identifying males have stolen over 1,941 gold medals from women and girls in the United States; additionally, trans-identifying male athletes have stolen over $493,173 in prize money from women in professional sports.”
However, during a rally Tuesday hosted by the National Women’s Law Center, transgender advocates said conservatives are too focused on transgender athletes and not enough on “actual” problems with sexual abuse and lower pay in women’s sports.
Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the center, said “the folks scapegoating trans athletes” are “silent on these actual issues.”
“”They don’t care about women competing in sports, they care about controlling us. They want to define who we are, how we look, and whether we belong. Girls with short hair. Black and brown girls. Intersex girls. Trans girls. Girls who defy stereotypes,” Patel said.
MORE: Students: Colleges didn’t support us when we decided we weren’t transgender anymore
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