Supreme Court to review state bans on transgender athletes' participation in school sports

By Fox News · Fox News

Sex "discrimination" or gender "fairness" in scholastic activities? The Supreme Court will decide the divisive social question when it holds oral arguments Tuesday in a pair of cases reviewing separate state bans on transgender and non-binary athletes participating in female-only public school sports teams. The justices are hearing appeals from Idaho and West Virginia, after lower courts struck down state laws, affecting those students from the elementary to college level. The Trump Justice Department is supporting the state laws, and will have time at oral argument to talk about the federal implications. What the court does here could affect other legal fights over LGBTQ+ rights, including transgender people having access to bathrooms, or sex designation on documents like passports and driver's licenses. The justices could decide to rule narrowly on the rights of athletic competitors, or offer a more sweeping precedent over discrimination claims in the workplace, public spaces, military service, government benefits, housing, health care, as well as education. One of the equal protection challenges comes from Lindsay Hecox, a 24-year-old senior at Boise State University who wanted to compete on both NCAA-level and club sports teams for women. Hecox now wants her high court case dismissed, fearing further harassment as she expects to graduate from college this spring. She says she will no longer play women's sports in Idaho, but the justices will decide that question of mootness after argument. LAWYER IN SCOTUS TRANS ATHLETE BATTLE, ICONS ACTIVISTS REACT TO REPORTS IOC WILL PROTECT WOMEN'S CATEGORY In West Virginia, now 15-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson seeks to play on women's teams at her public middle and now high schools. This past year, Pepper-Jackson qualified for the West Virginia girls high school state track meet, finishing third in the discus throw and eighth in the shot put in the Class AAA division. She has identified as female since third grade, and has…