Supreme Court ruling reinforces Georgia’s ban on transgender athletes in girls’ school sports

Georgia’s law barring transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams in public schools is likely to face stronger legal footing after a U.S. Supreme Court decision issued Tuesday.

According to Rough Draft Atlanta, the nation’s highest court upheld separate laws in Idaho and West Virginia that restrict participation on girls’ and women’s school athletic teams based on sex assigned at birth. The decision is expected to influence similar laws already enacted in more than two dozen states, including Georgia.

The legal challenges were brought by two transgender students: Lindsay Hecox, a former college athlete in Idaho, and Becky Pepper-Jackson, a West Virginia high school student who wanted to compete on her school’s girls’ track team. Both previously won favorable rulings in lower federal courts, where judges concluded the state laws likely violated constitutional protections and Title IX. The Supreme Court reversed those decisions.

The court’s conservative majority concluded that the Idaho and West Virginia laws do not violate either the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution or Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

According to Rough Draft Atlanta, the ruling continues a series of Supreme Court decisions allowing states to enforce laws that limit certain rights and protections for transgender people.

Georgia enacted its own restrictions after the General Assembly approved legislation signed by Gov. Brian Kemp prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating on female athletic teams at public elementary schools, high schools and colleges. Advocates on both sides of the issue expect Tuesday’s decision to play a significant role in future legal challenges involving similar state laws.