[1]WASHINGTON (BP) – A Supreme Court ruling today over two cases out of Idaho and West Virginia upheld the rights of schools to determine gender according to biological sex, and not by gender identity, when it comes to sports.
The individuals at the center of Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. each held that their Title IX rights had been violated when they were not allowed to compete on the women’s cross country and track and field teams. The 6-3 decision, however, focused on innate physical advantages males have over females – regardless of the use of puberty blockers – and thus made the cases about safety for female athletes as well as competitive fairness.
The West Virginia decision speaks to athletics up through high school. The Idaho case originated at Boise State University and thus impacts sports through the collegiate level.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the prevailing opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett. Thomas and Gorsuch filed separate concurring opinions. Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed the dissenting opinion, joined by Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Kavanaugh opened his opinion by pointing out that schools do not maintain single teams for a particular sport that include both female and male athletes because of “inherent physical differences relevant to athletic performance” that he described as “enduring.”
“Therefore, in contact sports, forcing female athletes to compete against males can create significant safety risks. And in virtually all competitive sports, forcing female athletes to compete against males can undermine competitive fairness.”
[2]Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion notes that B.P.J.’s claims did not technically violate Title IX, thus bringing all judges in agreement that Title IX addressed biological sex and not gender identity. The break came over the Equal Protection Clause, which the dissenting group said “demands much more when a State deploys a sex classification to achieve legislative aims.”
In contrast, the majority ruling in the 6-3 decisions confirmed that sex-specific sports do not, in fact, violate the 14th Amendment.
“Today, the Supreme Court upheld both the biblical standard for sexuality and a commonsense approach to defining sex,” said Evan Lenow, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “In the joint opinion of two women’s sports cases, the Court determined that girls’ and women’s sports teams may be reserved for biological females and that states have the right to separate sports teams based on biological sex.”
Alliance Defending Freedom CEO, President and Chief Counsel Kristen Waggoner celebrated the ruling while noting that the issue hasn’t been settled across the country.
“This is a victory for every girl who refused to stay quiet in the face of injustice. Men cannot be women, and no drug erases the male athletic advantage. I’m grateful to Attorneys General Raúl Labrador and JB McCuskey and our clients for their courage,” she said [3]. “Policies that ignore biological truth hurt people.
“In West Virginia, the male plaintiff defeated more than 470 girls over 1,400 times, won the women’s state championship in shot put, and sexually harassed our client Adaleia Cross [4] in the girls’ locker room. Adaleia’s story is not unique. After today’s decision, the 23 states still on the sidelines have run out of excuses. Protect women’s sports. Our girls have waited long enough.”
[5]In a separate post on X [6], Waggoner attached the Sophie Cunningham-pointing meme to indicate that ADF’s focus will next go to blue states that continue allowing biological males to compete with females.
Cross is a member of Simpson Creek Baptist Church in Bridgeport, West Virginia. Her pastor, Sean Wegener, wrote earlier this year [7] about her case going before the Supreme Court. The case took shape [8] two years ago when a boy who identified as a girl, B.P.J., competed on the middle school track and field team.
“Simpson Creek Baptist Church gives thanks to Almighty God for the Supreme Court’s decision,” read a statement sent to Baptist Press. “We rejoice with the Cross family, who have walked this difficult road with courage and grace. We are grateful for a ruling that protects the integrity of women’s sports and affirms the reality of biological sex – a truth rooted in God’s good design for creation. We believe that young ladies in posterity will owe a great debt to the sacrifices made by Adaleia and the Cross family in these recent years.”
The church said it prays B.P.J. will experience “genuine care, not hostility” and come to see the decision as “not an act of rejection, but a recognition of the created distinctions that Nature and Nature’s God teach that our blessed United States has acknowledged throughout history.”
The ERLC filed amicus briefs supporting states’ laws in both the Idaho [9] and West Virginia [10] cases.
“On numerous occasions, Southern Baptists have addressed the concern over transgender ideology in our culture, most recently in a 2025 resolution [11],” Lenow added.
“In that resolution, the Convention specifically addressed women’s sports and concerns over biological males competing against females, stating that ‘the participation of biological males and females in opposite gender sports … represents a rebellion against God’s design for male and female … and undermines fairness, safety, and truth.’
“This convictional clarity from Southern Baptists undergirds and bolsters the ERLC’s efforts to champion God’s good design for gender and sexuality in a confused culture.”
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