Supreme Court rejects W.Va.’s appeal to prevent trans girl from participating in sports
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected West Virginia’s emergency appeal of an appellate court’s decision to block the state from enforcing an anti-transgender youth sports ban against a 12-year-old transgender girl.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have granted the application, but they were not joined by any of their four other conservative colleagues on the bench.
West Virginia’s lawyers were defending a 2021 statute, the Save Women’s Sports Act, that classifies student athletes based on their sex assigned at birth instead of how they identify, and they wanted to enforce the law pending the outcome of litigation challenging it.
Los Angeles Times Supreme Court reporter David G. Savage wrote, “While the court’s action sets no precedent, it sends a signal that the justices are not ready to quickly approve laws that discriminate against transgender people.” Thursday’s decision marks the first time the Supreme Court has weighed in on matters involving transgender youth sports.
