Lower courts ruled for the male athletes in Idaho and West Virginia who challenged the state bans, but the conservative-dominated Supreme Court gave no indication after more than three hours of arguments that it would follow suit.
Instead, at least five of the six conservatives on the nine-member court indicated they would rule that the laws don't violate either the Constitution or the landmark Title IX law, which prohibits discrimination in education and has produced dramatic growth in girls and women's sports.
In just the past year, the justices ruled in favor of state bans on gender mutilation procedures on young people and allowed multiple restrictions against such things as boys in girl's change rooms and bathrooms.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who coached his daughters in girls basketball, seemed concerned about a ruling that might undo the effects of the Title IX federal law. Kavanaugh called Title IX an “amazing” and “inspiring” success. Some girls and women might lose a medal in a competition with transgender athletes, which Kavanaugh called a harm “we can’t sweep aside.”
The culture war cases come from Idaho and West Virginia, among the first of the more than two dozen Republican-led states that have banned biological males from girls and women’s teams.
