US Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender student athletes

The US Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for ⁠states to impose restrictions on transgender student athletes, upholding laws in West Virginia and Idaho banning them from female sports teams.

It delivered a major victory to conservatives in one of the country’s most fiercely contested culture-war battles.

The justices overturned decisions by lower courts siding with transgender students who challenged the bans in the two states as violating the US Constitution and a federal anti-discrimination law.

The decision allows Idaho, West Virginia and more than two dozen other Republican-led states to enforce measures requiring students to compete in public school and college teams according to their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity.

Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, which has cracked down on transgender rights, had backed the states in the litigation.

The ruling is the latest sign of the conservative-dominated court’s willingness to side with states on the issue, following last year’s decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.