Supreme Court trans athlete ruling: What it means for WA

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states can ban transgender girls and women from competing in girls' and women's school athletics, disappointing LGBTQ+ advocates in Washington state but encouraging backers of a similar ban proposed here.

The high court's ruling found that such bans do not violate the 14th Amendment or Title IX, a federal law that protects against sex-based discrimination.

The ruling was not surprising to LGBTQ+ advocates in Washington state, said Adrien Leavitt, an attorney with the ACLU of Washington. He noted that the state has already codified into law certain protections for transgender people, including students.

"It has profound harm, even if it doesn't change Washington state law," Leavitt said. "It tells us that the federal Constitution does not protect transgender youth in the context of sports."

In an opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the court majority said that the "inherent physical differences" between men and women mean that having separate sports teams "for biological males and biological females" is "reasonable."

"Given the inherent physical differences between the sexes, allowing only biological females to play on women's and girls' teams can reduce the risk of physical injury and ensure fair competition," Kavanaugh wrote in a 29-page opinion.

In other words, the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection under the law and Title IX do not require states to allow transgender girls and women to play on girls and women's teams. The high court's decision means the two state bans at the center of the ruling - in Idaho and West Virginia - can stand.

"The Court's decision is a landmark victory for common sense, biological reality, and for the millions of women and girls who deserve a level playing field," the White House said in a written statement. "By upholding laws protecting female athletic competition, the Court confirmed that states may preserve the fairness, safety, and equal opportunities that Title IX was enacted to guarantee."

Washington state protections still stand

The Supreme Court ruling does not change Washington's existing protections for transgender people, experts note.

The Washington Law Against Discrimination - the state's broad antidiscrimination statute - still prohibits discrimination based on sex, gender identity and gender expression in public facilities, in the workplace and while seeking housing, among other situations.

State law also shields Washington public school students from similar forms of discrimination. Students in these schools have the right to use new names and pronouns, according to the ACLU of Washington website.

Washington's office of superintendent of public instruction said the state's antidiscrimination laws have included gender identity as a protected category for two decades, and that "these protections fit within the scope of what is allowed by federal law and today's ruling."

"Today's decision reinforces Washington state's ability to adopt and implement our own laws in alignment with our values," Superintendent Chris Reykdal wrote in a statement. "Our Legislature has been clear: All students are welcome here."

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which oversees high school athletics across the state, has allowed transgender athletes to play on teams consistent with their gender identity since 2007. It was the first state association in the U.S. to establish such a policy.

"The WIAA is committed to following Washington state law, and will continue to do so," WIAA spokesperson Sean Bessette said in a written statement to The Seattle Times.

Fewer than half of U.S. states - including Washington - either allow or do not explicitly ban transgender students from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity, according to Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights.

The number of out transgender student athletes - in Washington state and nationwide - is unclear, though LGBTQ+ advocacy groups suggest those numbers are low, given recent estimates that roughly 1% of the U.S. population age 13 and older identifies as transgender.

ACLU senior legal counsel Joshua Block, one of the attorneys representing plaintiffs in the Supreme Court cases, said that states with existing protections for transgender people have been and will continue to be under assault from the Trump administration.

"Unfortunately, this administration's declared intent to eradicate acknowledgment of transgender people is going to continue," Block said.

Washington's ballot initiative

Later this year, Washington voters will consider a citizen-led initiative to ban transgender girls from competing on K-12 girls school sports teams. The initiative will appear on the November general election ballot.

The initiative, if approved by voters, would also require students who want to compete in girls sports to submit documentation of their assigned sex at birth as part of a physical exam.

The initiative is sponsored by Let's Go Washington, a conservative political committee founded by Brian Heywood. The organization said the initiative would "protect girls' sports."

"This case is a victory for girls across the country, but specifically in Washington," Let's Go Washington spokesperson Hallie Herzberg said in a written statement. "We know that girls deserve equal protection under the law and SCOTUS just affirmed that they know that too."

No Hate in Washington State - a campaign opposing Let's Go Washington's initiatives - said the state bans the Supreme Court ruled on do not require the intensive "medical sex verification" proposed under Washington's initiative.

"Washington's blanket sports ban is the most extreme proposal of its kind in the country," said No Hate in Washington State campaign manager Libby Watson in a written statement. "Its impacts will not just be felt by trans girls, but by every girl in our state who wants to participate in K-12 athletics."

No Hate in Washington State has support from the National Education Association, the ACLU of Washington and the Washington Education Association, among others.

Idaho and West Virginia bans

The Supreme Court ruling involves two cases with transgender athletes who are barred from playing on their schools' female athletic teams.

The Idaho case centers on Lindsay Hecox, a transgender woman who filed a lawsuit because state law prohibits her from trying out for her university's track and cross-country teams.

At issue is Idaho's "Fairness in Women's Sports Act" - the first law in the nation to ban transgender girls and women from participating on any girls or women's sports teams in public schools.

The second case the Supreme Court considered comes from West Virginia, where the state's "Save Women's Sports Act" institutes a similar ban on transgender girls and women. Becky Pepper-Jackson, a high schooler in West Virginia, filed a lawsuit arguing the state's ban violates her rights under the 14th Amendment or Title IX.

Both cases reached the Supreme Court after lower courts ruled in favor of the two transgender athlete plaintiffs. The high court heard oral arguments for the two cases in January. The ACLU is part of a group representing plaintiffs in both cases.

In the ruling, all of the justices determined the two state bans did not violate Title IX. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett joined Tuesday's majority opinion. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote an opinion that concurred in part and dissented in part, which justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined.

Andrew Ortiz, a senior attorney with the Transgender Law Center, said the Supreme Court's ruling focuses heavily on the physical safety of athletes and on ensuring "fairness" in sports. He criticized the high court's analysis, saying that lower courts had not litigated those issues enough for the Supreme Court to rule on them.

"There's really not enough research for them to be saying the things that they're saying authoritatively," Ortiz said.

President Donald Trump has made targeting what he calls "gender ideology" a priority in his second term. An executive order issued on his first day in office directed federal agencies to amend all existing policies that reference "gender" to instead use the term "sex," which the order defines as an "immutable biological classification as either male or female."

A February 2025 executive order aimed to revoke federal funds from schools that allow transgender girls and women to participate on female sports teams.

The Trump administration has also flexed the Department of Education's civil rights arm to investigate school districts and universities across the country for potential violations of Title IX and other federal antidiscrimination laws.

In doing so, the department has prioritized opening investigations into schools with trans-inclusive policies and has even reversed the judgments of previously settled Title IX investigations, including a settlement with Fife Public Schools in Pierce County.

Leavitt, of the ACLU of Washington, said this ruling tells young transgender people that they don't have "these very important federal constitutional protections."

"Sports are about inclusion and teamwork and competition and positive experiences for young people, and to exclude the very kids that need that the most - to me, is really shocking and very sad," Leavitt said. "It will only fuel a lot that is happening around this area, even if it doesn't change the law in Washington state."

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This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 4:55 PM.