Supreme Court upholds transgender sports bans in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox; administration pledges nationwide enforcement

The Court holds that Idaho's and West Virginia's categorical bans on transgender women and girls in female school sports violate neither Title IX nor the Equal Protection Clause. All nine Justices agreed the Title IX claims fail, with Sotomayor (joined by Kagan and Jackson) reaching that result on a narrower basis; Kavanaugh's six-Justice majority further held that "sex" in Title IX "cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex" and rejected individualized exemptions for hormone-treated athletes as "an almost impossible task." The Equal Protection holding is 6-3, with Sotomayor and Jackson separately concurring in the judgment in part and dissenting in part. The ruling permits but does not require exclusion, and expressly does not reach bathrooms, locker rooms, or other facilities. Secretary McMahon issues a same-day statement — "Today's ruling cements those reforms" — pledging compliance efforts nationwide; the administration characterizes the ruling as bolstering its broader program. (see also sections 5, 10)