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Supreme Court appears likely to uphold state bans on transgender athletes

By Nina Totenberg
Published January 13, 2026 at 1:34 PM EST
The U.S. Supreme Court
Andrew Harnik
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The U.S. Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared sympathetic to state laws banning transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports.

To date, 27 states have enacted laws barring transgender participation in sports. Supporters say the laws are needed to ensure fairness in athletic competition and to prevent athletes whose assigned sex at birth was male from having an unfair advantage in women's sports. Opponents of these laws say they discriminate based on sex, in violation of both federal law and the Constitution's guarantee to equal protection of the law.

Tuesday's cases were factually very different. One involved an Idaho college student barred by state law from trying out for the Boise State University varsity women's track team. The other case was brought by a West Virginia middle school student barred by state law from competing in school sports.

Although the Supreme Court in 2020 ruled that the federal law barring sex discrimination in employment extends to gay and trans employees, the court more recently has upheld state laws that ban hormone and other treatments for minors suffering from gender dysphoria; it has left in place President Trump's order to rid the military of trans individuals; and it has also required passport applicants to list only their assigned sex at birth.

This is a developing story and will be updated

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Nina Totenberg
Nina Totenberg is NPR's award-winning legal affairs correspondent. Her reports air regularly on NPR's critically acclaimed newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition.
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