The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments in two cases over state restrictions on which school sports teams transgender students can join.The cases, based on laws in West Virginia and Idaho, involve transgender athletes who ho ped to compete on female-designated teams at the K-12 and college level, respectively.Though lower courts in both states blocked the bans, the outcome could be different at the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which has allowed multiple restrictions on transgender people to be enforced in the past year. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions.Now, the nations highest court will consider whether the sports bans violate the Constitution or the landmark federal law known as Title IX that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools. Decisions are expected by early summer.READ MORE | Supreme Court to hear Idaho, West Virginia cases on transgender participation in sportsWhat to know: Whats at stake? Sports participation is one of the main fronts in legislative and legal battles in recent years over the role of transgender people in U.S. public life. The nationwide battle over the participation of transgender girls in girls sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels, with Republicans leveraging the issue as a fight for athletic fairness for women and girls. Whats the argument? Lawyers for Becky Pepper-Jackson, the West Virginia plaintiff, have argued that the ban is discriminatory, violating her rights under Title IX, the law best known for its role in gender equity in athletics, and the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause. In the Idaho case, the issue is limited to the Equal Protection Clause. What could the court decide? The courts conservative majority has already issued several jolting setbacks to transgender rights, including allowing President Donald Trump to move ahead, for now, with banning transgender people from the military and blocking transgender and nonbinary people from choosing passport sex markers that align with their gender identity, as well as upholding a state ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth.Live Updates:Courthouse steps press conferences Part IIBy FATIMA HUSSEINWhats at issue in this case is fair treatment for all people, including cis people and trans people, said Josh Block, who argued against state-level transgender bans in front of the justices Tuesday.Press conferences on the courthouse stepsBy FATIMA HUSSEINJohn Bursch of the Alliance for Defending Freedom, a conservate Christian legal activist group, seemed encouraged by the days hearing.Speaking at a podium outside the supreme Court, Bursch said, It means a lot that the other side has to tell the court not to define sex in order to win this case.After the hearing comes the screamingBy FATIMA HUSSEINOutside the courthouse where lawyers for each side have appeared to speak with the press, competing demonstrations are drowning out their voices.Packed houseBy FATIMA HUSSEINTuesdays high-profile case drew a crowd, with all seats in the courtroom taken.Among those in attendance was U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer, who recently argued before the court on tariffs.Supreme Court seems likely to rule for states that ban transgender athletes in school sportsAt least 5 of the 6 conservative justices appear ready to uphold the state laws in Idaho and West Virginia, after more than three hours of arguments.One indication of where the court appears to be headed is that the ACLU lawyer representing Becky Pepper-Jackson said he would accept a loss at the Supreme Court that might still allow the case to go forward in lower courts.Competitive advantageBy LINDSAY WHITEHURSTBarrett returns to a theme raised several times by the courts conservatives: If transgender girls with no competitive advantage can join girls sports in West Virginia, would boys be able to join girls teams if they also have a similar skill level?Pepper-Jacksons attorney, Joshua Block, says no. Boys and girls dont have separate teams based on how good they are at sports. They have separate teams to give girls athletic opportunities without having to face other players who have the physical advantages that come with male puberty.Pepper-Jackson, he said, did not go through male puberty and so is completely in the position she could have been if her sex assigned at birth was female.State-level definitions of gender come into playBy HANNAH SCHOENBAUMMooppan, an attorney for the Trump administration, said it doesnt matter that an athletes testosterone levels have been suppressed because no degree of hormone changes can alter their gender as defined by state law.West Virginia law defines biological sex based solely on a persons reproductive biology and genetics at birth. The state moved to define sex in state code in early 2025 to align with Trumps executive orders that narrowly defined gender as binary and unchanging.Becky Pepper-Jacksons state-issued birth certificate, which was changed before the state legally defined sex, says she is female.Justices told to ignore other government action on trans athletesBy GEOFF MULVIHILLIn arguments in both the Idaho and West Virginia cases, Mooppan of the Justice Department said the Trump administration is suing states that dont bar transgender girls from girls sports competitions, arguing that they are violating the law on sex equality in education.But he said that the justices should not consider that as they weigh the cases before them. He says thats because different legal issues are involved.Roberts asks if previous workplace discrimination decision appliesBy LINDSAY WHITEHUSTThe chief justice questioned whether the courts 2020 finding that federal law protects transgender people from workplace discrimination also applies to womens sports.Roberts sided with the majority in that decision, but suggested this case might be different.The question here is whether or not a sex-based classification is necessarily a transgender classification, he said.Justices could look to the state of scienceBy GEOFF MULVIHILLAnd the answers are contradictory.In the Idaho case, Hecoxs lawyer told the justices that the main factor in sex differences in athletic performance is the presence of testosterone, not other differences such as height.And she said female athletes who were born male might be at a disadvantage if they undergo hormone therapy to suppress testosterone though she said more research is needed to know all the impacts.But Idahos solicitor general told justices its clear that women and girls have lost hundreds of medals to transgender women.West Virginia argues law is about sex, not genderBy HANNAH SCHOENBAUMThe law is indifferent to gender identity because sports are indifferent to gender identity, West Virginia Solicitor General Michael Williams said in his opening statement.He argued transgender girls have inherent biological advantages, while Pepper-Jacksons attorneys have said she doesnt because of puberty-blocking medications. The 15-year-old is the only known transgender student-athlete seeking to compete in West Virginia.Idaho case completeBy LINDSAY WHITEHUSTThe court is now moving on to hearing a separate but related case, about a teenage transgender girl in West Virginia. Her case is different from the Idaho case because she was in middle school when it began, so it involves grade school sports rather than college sports. Attorneys for Becky Pepper-Jackson, now 15, say she has also been taking puberty-delaying medication since the onset of puberty, further mitigating any athletic advantage.Subgroup of transgender athletes affectedBy HANNAH SCHOENBAUMAnyone, including transgender boys, can play on boys sports teams under the Idaho law. Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked Hecoxs attorney how she can argue theres discrimination based on transgender status when only trans girls are affected.Hartnett responded that the court has not required the entire protected class to be excluded in other similar cases. She reiterated that her case focuses on a specific subgroup targeted by the law.Justices question whether some female athletes concerns are justifiedBy HANNAH SCHOENBAUMJustice Samuel Alito asked if the concerns of some female athletes about competing against transgender women should be taken seriously.Looking to the broader issue that a lot of people are interested in, there are an awful lot of female athletes who are strongly opposed to participation by trans athletes in competitions with them, Alito said. What do you say about them? Are they bigots?No, Kathleen Hartnett responded, but you dont legislate based on undifferentiated fears.Kavanaugh touts success of Title IX in growth of girls and womens sportsBy MARK SHERMANKavanaugh, who coached his daughters in girls basketball, wonders if allowing transgender athletes on girls and womens teams will undermine or reverse that amazing success.Some girls and women might lose a medal in a competition with a transgender athlete, which Kavanaugh calls a harm, we cant sweep aside.Wider effects of ruling?By LINDSAY WHITEHUSTChief Justice John Roberts closely questioned Hecoxs attorney about whether a win for transgender women in girls sports could have wider effects on spaces that are separated by gender.If exceptions are allowed in sports, Roberts asked, how far would that go? As the chief justice and a member of the courts conservative supermajority, his vote will be key in the case.Attorney Kathleen Hartnett responded that their argument centers on a specific subgroup: transgender women who dont have an athletic advantage and want to play sports.Lawyer argues Idahos justification no longer applies to plaintiffBy HANNAH SCHOENBAUMIdaho justifies its sports ban by arguing theres a need to protect female athletes against male biological advantages, Harnett said.She argued that distinction no longer applies to her client, who she said has mitigated any biological advantage by suppressing testosterone for over a year and taking estrogen.Lawyer for transgender athlete in Idaho is upBy MARK SHERMANKathleen Hartnett, representing Boise State University student Lindsay Hecox, is beginning her presentation more than an hour after arguments began.Tiny fraction of student athletesBy HANNAH SCHOENBAUMTransgender people represent a tiny fraction of student athletes in both K-12 and college athletics in the U.S.Sometimes the legal plaintiffs in sports ban cases have been the only openly transgender athlete in their state.The president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association recently told Congress that fewer than 10 of the more than 550,000 college athletes nationwide are openly transgender.Trump attorney weighs in on role of hormone therapyBy HANNAH SCHOENBAUMMooppan, the Justice Department attorney, equated an athlete taking gender-affirming hormones to taking performance-altering drugs.He argued states can still divide their sports teams by sex even in cases where an athlete uses drugs to decrease their physical advantages.Male athletes who take performance-altering drugs are not similarly situated to female athletes, and states need not treat them the same, he said.Trump administration upBy LINDSAY WHITEHUSTIdaho has completed its arguments, and now Justice Department attorney Hashim Mooppan is making arguments supporting the state.President Donald Trump has separately undertaken a broad effort to target transgender Americans, including banning them from the military and declaring that gender is immutable and determined at birth.Kavanaugh questions what comes next, if states win?By MARK SHERMANJustice Brett Kavanaugh asks Hurst whether the roughly two dozen states that allow transgender athletes to compete would be forced to change course if the justices uphold state bans.Are those states violating the constitutional rights of biological girls and women by allowing that? he asks.Hurst, the Idaho Solicitor General, says Idaho is not asking that, but the states partner, the Christian conservative Alliance Defending Freedom law firm, is actively litigating that very issue in other states. The courts decision in these cases could affect those lawsuits.A twist in the Idaho caseBy LINDSAY WHITEHUSTTheres a twist in the first case the court is hearing: After the court agreed to hear the case, the plaintiff at the center said she wanted to drop it.Lindsay Hecox has said she no longer plays womens sports, and doesnt want to challenge Idahos law anymore, so the case is moot.The state of Idaho disagrees, and says the Supreme Court should decide the case now.The second case the court is hearing today, out of West Virginia, deals with many of the same issues without questions about mootness.Thomas suggests the case is about more than transgender athletesBy GEOFF MULVIHILLThomas asked Idaho Solicitor General Alan Hurst if allowing transgender women to compete with women is different from a lousy mens tennis player who doesnt make the mens team and seeks to try out for the womens team instead.Hurst said its not.Gorsuch chimes inBy LINDSAY WHITEHURSTAfter a series of questions from the courts liberals, Justice Neil Gorsuch jumps in with a big question about whether transgender people should be considered a legally protected class.Gorsuch is a member of the courts conservative majority and one of the most closely watched justices in this case.He wrote a key 2020 decision upholding workplace discrimination protections for transgender people but in 2025 joined the majority in allowing states to ban certain healthcare for transgender youth.Opening arguments defend Idaho lawBy HANNAH SCHOENBAUMIn his opening argument, Idaho Solicitor General Alan Hurst said Idahos law treats all men and all women equally and does not classify on the basis of gender identity.Denying special treatment isnt classifying on the basis of transgender status. Its consciously choosing not to, Hurst said.Justice Sonia Sotomayor pushed back on his characterization of the case and said it concerns a subclass of protected people within the bounds of sex classification.Arguments are underwayThe Supreme Court has begun hearing arguments.With demonstrators on both sides gathered outside the court building, Idahos solicitor general begins presenting their argument on the first case the justices are hearing: about a transgender woman who wanted to play sports at Boise State University.Justice Clarence Thomas goes firstBy MARK SHERMANIn the post-pandemic era, the other justices allow the 77-year-old Thomas, the longest-serving member of the court, to pose a question or two before the free-for-all begins.In a second round of questioning, the justices ask questions in order of seniority. Chief Justice John Roberts, whose center chair makes him the most senior, gets the first crack.Settle in for a lengthy sessionBy MARK SHERMANThe justices will hear two separate cases, involving college student Lindsay Hecox from Idaho and high schooler Becky Pepper-Jackson from West Virginia.The court has set aside an hour for each case, but the justices have routinely gone beyond the allotted time since returning to the courtroom following the Covid-19 pandemic.Pepper-Jackson is on hand for the historic argumentsBy MARK SHERMANThe 15-year-old sophomore, who throws the discus and shot put, is in Washington, D.C., and plans to watch the arguments in person, along with her mother, Heather Jackson. Pepper-Jackson said in an interview with The Associated Press, that she is aware the upcoming track-and-field season could be her last as a high-school athlete.States have targeted transgender people in other ways, tooBy GEOFF MULVIHILLSports participation isnt the only place states have restricted transgender people in recent years.Twenty-seven states have adopted laws barring minors from accessing at least some elements of gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers, hormone treatment and surgery something the Supreme Court ruled last year that they could do. The Trump administration has tried to use funding and other policies to curtail the treatments for those under 19, which has sparked a legal challenge.Democratic-led states have tried to protect access to the treatments, though that hasnt stopped many blue-state hospitals from halting it.At least 15 states have also adopted bans on transgender people using multiuser bathrooms in public schools and in some cases other buildings  that align with their gender.Most states have restrictions on where transgender athletes can competeBy GEOFF MULVIHILLTuesdays arguments focus on laws in Idaho and West Virginia that bar transgender girls and women from competing in girls and womens competitions.The majority of states have put in place similar policies in the last six years.At least 25 have adopted laws with restrictions. Some apply to college sports or private schools. Of those, enforcement of the laws in three states Arizona, Idaho and Utah are on hold.The organizations that oversee high school sports in at least Georgia, Nevada and Virginia have similar policies.Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to bar transgender athletes from competing in girls and womens sports. The administration sued Maine for not complying. ...read more read less