Two Republican attorneys general asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to uphold their states’ laws designed to prevent men from competing in women’s sports.
Together, Idaho and West Virginia’s cases ask the Court to consider whether such laws violate Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and Title IX, which prohibits public schools and universities that receive federal funding from discriminating based on sex. Twenty-five states around the county have passed similar laws aimed at protecting women’s sports.
“It’s an issue that needs to be addressed soon,” Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador said during a Wednesday press conference, noting it is causing “confusion and chaos all throughout the United States” in both high school and university sports.
“You see men identifying as women trying to compete in these sports,” he said. “You don’t see women identifying as men trying to compete in sports. And I think that tells you everything that you need to know about the fairness of this issue.” (RELATED: Supreme Court Agrees To Take Up Red State Ban On Child Sex Change Procedures)
Women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field. This isn’t political or partisan—it’s basic fairness and common sense.
Madison Kenyon and Mary Kate Marshall, our clients in Hecox v. Little, share their story below⬇️ pic.twitter.com/RUiRj6mq3G
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) July 11, 2024
If the Supreme Court agrees to take the cases, it could have implications for the Biden administration’s recent rule expanding Title IX to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” The Biden administration released its final rule in April, and it is set to take effect August 1.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals previously upheld an injunction against Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act in April.
Last year in March, West Virginia asked the Supreme Court to reverse an injunction against its law, though the majority declined to address the issue at the time over objections from Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — allowing middle school student Becky Pepper-Jackson, a male who identifies as female, to continue participating on the girls’ cross country team.
“This spring, B.P.J. placed top three in every track event B.P.J. competed in, winning most,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey wrote in the state’s petition. “B.P.J. beat over 100 girls, displacing them over 250 times while denying multiple girls spots and medals in the conference championship.”
Morrisey said in the press conference there is an even greater urgency for the Court to clarify the law now in light of the Biden administration’s efforts to advance a “radical interpretation of Title IX.”
The Supreme Court agreed in June to consider the Biden administration’s challenge to Tennessee’s law banning sex change procedures for children in a separate case, United States v. Skrmetti.
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