Advocates for transgender rights were left deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court decision upholding two state laws barring trans athletes from participation in girls’ and women’s sports, even as they stressed that the ruling did not establish broader restrictions.
Joshua Block, an A.C.L.U. lawyer who represented the plaintiffs, called the decision a “heartbreaking ruling for our clients and transgender girls like them, who have asked for nothing more than the same opportunities afforded to their peers.”
The ruling, issued on the final day of the court’s term, was the latest in a series of legal defeats at the Supreme Court for advocates of transgender rights. President Trump and his supporters have targeted those rights, with Mr. Trump emphasizing the issue before and after his return to the White House.
Mr. Trump and the governor of West Virginia, one of the states whose law was upheld, lauded the ruling. Mr. Trump called it a “BIG WIN,” while Gov. Patrick Morrisey said future generations of female athletes would benefit from the “certainty, fairness and opportunity this decision protects.”
The Human Rights Campaign, an L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group, emphasized that the ruling did not establish a nationwide ban and called on states to adopt inclusive policies. But it also acknowledged the recent run of losses, saying the decision “falls in line with other rulings from conservative justices on the Supreme Court that have rolled back rights and freedoms for many marginalized communities.”
d Last year, the court ruled that states could ban gender-transition medications for transgender minors. And in March, the justices rejected a Colorado law that prohibited mental health professionals from trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of L.G.B.T.Q. minors.
Supporters of the sports bans joined Mr. Trump in celebrating Tuesday’s decision. That included Riley Gaines, a former swimmer at the University of Kentucky who became a public face of the effort after she tied with a transgender woman, Lia Thomas, for fifth place in an event at the 2022 N.C.A.A. championships. She reposted the president’s message, adding, “Yeah, what he said!”
Amanda Goad, who leads a gender and reproductive justice effort at the A.C.L.U. of Southern California, expected the president and others “trying to write trans people out of public life” to claim that the decision strengthens their arguments. But, she noted, the ruling explicitly does not extend into states that currently allow transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.
Still, advocates for restricting the participation of transgender athletes made clear on Tuesday that they would broaden their campaign.
“Blue states with boys on girls’ podiums … you’re next,’’ Kristen Waggoner, the president of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which successfully defended the laws barring trans athletes in Idaho and West Virginia, wrote on social media.
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