Conservative Supreme Court justices could uphold bans in some states where GOP-led legislatures prevent transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams.
Led by Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, Some members of the conservative wing of the Court acknowledged being concerned about the position taken by defenders of the LGBTQ community demanding the integration of its members into sports teams and competitions originally created only for women biologically born with that gender.
In this sense, the possibility opens up that lower court decisions in favor of transgender athletes will be reversed.
For more than three hours, the justices heard arguments in a pair of cases involving laws in West Virginia and Idaho that require public school and college sports teams to be designated based on biological sex at birth, restricting transgender girls and women from competing on teams that correspond to their gender identity.
However, the liberal wing of the court suggested that the athletes involved could still challenge, albeit to a limited extent, their individual circumstances.
“Given that half of the states allow it, supporting transgender girls and women to participate, about the other half do not. Why at this point, just because of the role of this court, would we intervene and try to constitutionalize a rule for the entire country while there is still uncertainty and debate?” Justice Brett Kavanaugh questioned.
For his part, Justice Samuel Alito emphasized that female athletes across the country have expressed their opposition to transgender girls competing against and alongside them.
“What do you think of them? Are they intolerant? Are they deceived into believing that they are subject to unfair competition?” he questioned.
It should be noted that the Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, which may mark a trend regarding its final position on this case, and the ruling is likely to have national implications, at least for the other 25 states with similar bans.
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