The consensus among pundits following Tuesday’s hearing is that SCOTUS seems likely to uphold state laws barring transgender athletes from playing on school athletic teams.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard opening arguments in the Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. cases, which address the constitutional rights of states to ban biological males from women’s and girl’s sports.
Nonetheless, the conservative-dominated Supreme Court gave no indication after over three hours of arguments that it would follow suit.
Conservative activist and former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines questioned Leavitt on the hearing during a press briefing on Thursday
Leavitt accused the three liberal justices, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor (pictured) of challenging biology with their line of questioning during Tuesday’s hearings
Instead, at least five of the six conservatives on the nine-member court indicated they would rule that the laws don’t violate either the Constitution or the landmark Title IX law, which prohibits discrimination in education and has produced dramatic growth in girls’ and women’s sports.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court majority also appeared swayed by the arguments of cisgender athletes who have been accused of bigotry for opposing transgender participation in female sports.
‘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,’ conservative justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said. ‘Are they bigots? Are they deluded in thinking that they are subjected to unfair competition?’
A ruling is expected by early summer.
The Little v. Hecox lawsuit was initially filed in 2020 by trans athlete Lindsay Hecox, who had Idaho’s state law to prevent trans athletes from competing in women’s sports blocked amid their desire to join the women’s cross-country team at Boise State.
A 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel later upheld an injunction blocking the state law in 2023, before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case despite Hecox asking them to drop it after insisting they were withdrawing and refraining from playing women’s sports at BSU or in Idaho.
The West Virginia v. B.P.J. lawsuit, meanwhile, was brought against the state by trans athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson, who was initially granted a preliminary injunction allowing them to participate on the school’s sports teams. After the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that law violated Title IX and the equal protection clause, the state’s appeal is also heading to Supreme Court.
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