Map: Which states ban transgender athletes’ sports participation?
WASHINGTON —
The Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that states can exclude transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports teams at publicly funded schools.
Supporters of the bans have argued that transgender women have a biological advantage over cisgender women competing in women’s sports.
In a 6-3 decision, the court ruled that the state bans in Idaho and West Virginia do not violate the Constitution. The court also unanimously ruled that barring transgender girls and women from competing on women’s and girls’ sports does not violate Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.
Idaho was the first state to pass legislation barring transgender girls from participating in sports at public K-12 schools and public institutions of higher education.
More states followed Idaho’s 2020 law. Today, more than half of U.S. states have bans that prohibit either transgender girls or all transgender athletes from participating on certain sports teams, according to a Get the Facts Data Team analysis.
Twenty states have passed legislation banning transgender girls from participating on girls’ sports teams, while seven states have legislation banning all transgender athletes from playing on sports teams.
Alaska, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin do not have state legislation barring transgender athletes, but athletic associations in those states have adopted policies restricting transgender athletes’ participation.
Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender women from competing on women’s sports teams at schools and colleges. Following the executive order, the NCAA, the governing body for college athletics in the U.S., passed a policy barring transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
