Supreme Court rulings impact transgender athletes in West Virginia and beyond.

The US Supreme Court has declined to reinstate a West Virginia law that bans transgender women and girls from participating on public-school sports teams consistent with their gender identity. The law requires that female sports teams at the state’s public middle schools, high schools and colleges be based on “biological sex.” Two members of the high court — Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — dissented, indicating that they would have allowed the state to implement the law while litigation over the issue continues. The lawsuit argues that the law violates both Title IX protections against sex discrimination and equal protection rights found in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.