Name: Whats being argued Supreme Court case on transgender athlete bans?
Uploaded: 2026-01-14T01:09:03.597Z
Duration: 2 min 3 s
Description: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in two cases centered around state bans targeting transgender athletes.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in two cases centered around state bans targeting transgender athletes.

Washington

The U.S. Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in two cases concerning state laws that prevent transgender women from participating in girls' and women's sports teams in West Virginia and Idaho. The plaintiffs argue these laws violate the Constitution and federal anti-discrimination statutes, while the states maintain the laws only require athletes to compete according to their biological sex.

A decision in these cases could have nationwide implications, as 27 states have enacted similar bans. The justices appeared inclined to allow the laws to stand, referencing the original intent of anti-discrimination laws passed by Congress in 1972. A ruling is expected later in the spring or early summer.

What's being argued Supreme Court case on transgender athlete bans?

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in two cases centered around state bans targeting transgender athletes. The cases stem from two students, both transgender women in West Virginia and Idaho, who challenged their state's laws preventing them from participating in girls and women's sports. An eventual decision could impact more than half the country. Idaho and West Virginia are two of 27 states that have bans impacting transgender athletes in place. CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford joins me now. Jan, what is the legal basis for both sides of this argument? Well, the transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia are arguing that these state laws violate the Constitution. They violate federal anti-discrimination law because the law, they say, ensures that people cannot be excluded from participation based, they say, on their sex. And that's what's happening here. Whereas the states and the Trump administration say no one is being excluded. These laws simply say, essentially, that states can kind of keep people competing based on their biological sex, so that the transgender athletes can still play, but they just have to play on the team of their biological sex. Of course, those are very difficult arguments. There is one of the athletes here that is a high school student. She started identifying as a girl when she was in third grade. So she wouldn't want to, she says, play on the team of her biological sex. But I think even with those difficult arguments, it seemed pretty clear that the justices were prepared to rule that these laws can stand. And those are 25 other states, like you said, because the law, they said, when Congress passed it, for example, back in 1972, saying that you had to allow equal participation based and couldn't exclude people based on sex. They were talking about biological sex. So Congress could simply change the law if they see it differently now. When do you think we'll get a decision? This one could be a while. You know, the controversial, contentious ones take longer because more people have opinions to write. So I expect it sometime later this spring or early this summer, Lindsay. OK, Jan Crawford, thank you.

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