Supreme Court Appears Likely to Uphold Trans Athlete Bans: Analysis |
Twenty-seven states have passed laws banning transgender youth from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity. And while these bans may vary in scope, each one relies on the same spurious claim that trans athletes pose a uniquely dire “threat” to women’s sports.
Those claims were on full display on Jan. 13, 2026, as the Supreme Court justices heard oral arguments in two cases challenging laws in West Virginia and Idaho that categorically ban transgender women and girls from playing in athletic programs alongside other women and girls.
Both cases together ask whether such bans violate federal and constitutional law. After nearly four hours of arguments in the two cases, the conservative majority on the Supreme Court appear ready to rule that they do not.
The first case heard on Jan. 13 was Little v. Hecox, a case brought by Lindsay Hecox, a transgender athlete who was banned under a 2020 Idaho law from trying out for and competing on the women’s track and cross-country teams at Boise State University.
The law categorically bars transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports at all ages and levels of competition. It also requires invasive testing—for example, a health-care provider examining a student’s reproductive anatomy—if an athlete’s sex is questioned.
Both the district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have blocked the Idaho law. Despite winning in the lower courts, Hecox asked the Supreme Court in September to