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US Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender student athletes

Trump said the ‘ridiculous situation’ of ‘men playing in women’s sports’ was now ‘off the table’ after the hotly contested culture war fight

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Women celebrate the US Supreme Court’s final rulings of its nine-month term, including a decision that cleared the way for states to impose restrictions on transgender athletes in schools. Photo: Reuters
Agence France-Presse

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.

US President Donald Trump hailed the Supreme Court’s decision.

“The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS. Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!” he posted on his Truth Social platform.

Transgender rights supporters hold placards outside the US Supreme Court in Washington DC in January. Photo: Reuters
Transgender rights supporters hold placards outside the US Supreme Court in Washington DC in January. Photo: Reuters

The court’s 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.

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