WASHINGTON, D.C – Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two consolidated landmark cases, Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J, to weigh whether Idaho and West Virginia can ban gender-confused males from participating in female sports. The High Court is expected to deliver a ruling in the case by June 2026. The decision will likely have significant implications across the nation since at least 27 states have similar laws protecting women and girls. 

The cases raise important questions about whether these laws can protect females or must yield to “gender identity” letting males compete against females at the expense of competitive fairness and female safety. The justices will address whether both these statutes violate the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection clause, and whether West Virginia’s law violates the federal anti-discrimination statute Title IX.

In Little v. Hecox, SCOTUS will review Idaho’s 2020 “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” and in West Virginia v. B.P.J, it will review West Virginia’s 2021 “Save Women’s Sports Act,” both of which protect the safety and opportunities of female athletes by barring biological males from female competitive sports teams at public schools and universities.

Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief to the High Court stating that Title IX is based on sex, not gender identity, and any interpretation otherwise that prioritizes protections for gender identity could eliminate Title IX’s sex-based protections for women.

In the brief, Liberty Counsel argues that Title IX recognizes the inherent physiological differences between males and females from birth. Title IX was specifically enacted to increase female participation in sports and to create more athletic opportunities for women, which necessarily involves treating the two biological sexes differently.

Liberty Counsel noted that “gender identity” has nothing to do with sports. Gender identity, like religion or nationality, does not change a person’s biology or physicality, such as how far they can throw or how fast they can run. In competitive sports, the comparisons that matter are an “individual’s capacity to run, lift, jump, throw, hit, punch, or whatever conduct the sport permits.” Only biology should impact Title IX analysis, not any gender identity perception that differs from “a person’s biological and chromosomal reality,” wrote Liberty Counsel.

Studies referenced in the brief offer only one conclusion, which is that biological males are physiologically different than biological females and physiology cannot be “reformatted” by hormones. Therefore, biological males will enter female sports with an inherent unfair advantage because of their male physiology while displacing women in the process, wrote Liberty Counsel.  

In Little v. Hecox, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s injunction blocking Idaho’s law. However, “Lindsay” Hecox, the biological male challenging Idaho’s law so he can run on a collegiate female track team asked SCOTUS to dismiss the case as moot because he no longer wishes to participate in sports. The High Court decided to proceed with oral arguments. 

Regarding West Virginia v. B.P.J, the U.S. District Court ruled in favor of the state’s “Save Women’s Sports Act” stating it was based on athletic fairness according to the legitimate differences between the sexes. However, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling equating gender identity discrimination as sex discrimination and declared the law unconstitutional.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Biological reality dictates that men and women are different. These laws acknowledge reality so female athletes are not competitively, physically, and emotionally harmed by gender-confused males in their sports and private spaces. Title IX’s purpose is to provide more opportunities to women and girls. Permitting biological males in female sports would eviscerate the entire purpose of Title IX and erase women in athletics.” 

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