For Immediate Release

All students deserve access to safe and inclusive school environments, including equitable access to school sports teams, which are crucial for healthy youth development. 

Today, the Supreme Court undermined those principles by allowing barriers that exclude transgender students from participating fully alongside their peers in school sports. In upholding West Virginia’s and Idaho’s bans on transgender girls participating in sports consistent with their gender identities, the Court defers to state sanctioned discrimination, embeds blatant sexism into its interpretation of Title IX, and ignores students’ lived realities.   

“The Supreme Court today upheld discriminatory laws that are part of a coordinated effort to exclude transgender people from public life,” said Johnathan Smith, Managing Director, Education and Federal Strategic Advocacy at the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL). “It’s a disgrace that legislators and courts have erected barriers preventing transgender youth from having the same full athletic opportunities as other youth and, instead, have told a sixth-grade girl that she can’t experience the joy and camaraderie of joining her friends on their track team. Today’s decision undermines civil rights for all.” 

Added Becky Monroe, a Senior Director at NCYL: “Through our work with parents and young people, we hear the same refrain all the time: they want to ensure there are learning environments that allow students to grow, thrive and be prepared for the future. Students who have access to inclusive schools and extracurricular activities are better prepared to fully participate in our diverse democracy. Laws and policies should support schools in that goal, not exclude students because of who they are.” 

At NCYL, we are undeterred in our efforts to fight toward a society where all students have the opportunities they deserve. We’ll continue to work with students, parents, and civil rights advocates to advance state laws that protect transgender students from discrimination and to challenge discrimination when it occurs. We stand with the brave young women who brought these challenges. We know that all students benefit when every student is included.