Supreme Court Could Kill College Transgender Sports

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA athlete turned political campaigner, has expressed confidence the Supreme Court will end up ruling against transgender women being allowed to compete in women’s sport in school and college, in a “Title 9 case.”

In 2022 Gaines, then a student and college swimmer at the University of Kentucky, tied with transgender athlete Lia Thomas in 200-yard NCAA freestyle championship. Thomas, who Gaines regards as a biological male, also won the 500-yard NCAA freestyle competition, making her the first trans athlete to win a Division I national championship.

Title 9, which outlaws discrimination based on sex at any school or educational facility which receives federal funding, passed into law as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. Speaking to Newsweek, Gaines said she expects justices on the Supreme Court will do “not just the right thing and the fair thing but the moral thing” and argued this means prohibiting transgender participation in women’s university sport.

In January the Supreme Court declined to hear a Title 9 case from Indiana, when it was asked to review a federal court ruling which concluded a trans student has the right to use the restroom corresponding with their gender identity, against the wishes of the local school district.

The court also decided in April 2023 it wouldn’t take up a case from West Virgina from authorities wanting to uphold a state law banning trans athletes from women’s sports in public schools, which was initially challenged by 12-year-old trans girl Becky Pepper-Jackson.

Gaines admitted she had been “kind of stung” by the West Virginia case, and wondered “what is the Supreme Court doing?” However, she was assured that it didn’t mean the court was “siding with the other side,” rather that “they didn’t have the capacity to take it up at the time.”

She is hopeful that a Title 9 case will end up before the Supreme Court, singling out the lawsuit brought by four track and field runners, including sprinter Chelsea Mitchell, in Connecticut after they were required to compete against trans athletes. The group claimed they “have been denied medals, placements or advancement opportunities because of the male athletes competing in our events.”

Gaines said: “There’s a couple of big cases that I am excited for which will probably make it up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has never heard a Title 9 case – it would be huge.”

Referencing the Connecticut case, the former college swimmer added: “I’m very hopeful this case in particular will be heard by the Supreme Court, which will be the first ruling we have on a Title 9 case—which is huge right now considering what the Biden administration is doing to Title 9, which is a totally illegal administrative rewrite. I think to get it into the Supreme Court would be monumental and I’m looking forward to it.”

Title 9 states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a transgender athlete, smiles on the podium after winning the 200 yard freestyle during the 2022 Ivy League Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Blodgett Pool on February 18, 2022 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Former college swimmer Riley Gaines believes the Supreme Court will end up banning transgender college athletes from competing in women’s competitions. Kathryn Riley/GETTY

Referring to a number of ongoing cases Gaines commented: “What’s going on and what has continued to go on across the nation, what I went through, what those girls in Connecticut went through, the girls in West Virginia, Indiana, Idaho, I believe there’s a lawsuit. What these girls continue to go through is an explicit violation of the federal law being Title 9.

“It’s very simple because Title 9 is only, like, 37 words. It’s not like it’s hard to interpret or understand. It’s just being able to define that word ‘sex’ … we’ve never struggled to define that word before.

“So I imagine the Justices will do not just the right thing and the fair thing but the moral thing and what the federal law states as of now.”

Speaking to Newsweek Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, agreed the Supreme Court could end up ruling on a Title 9 case related to trans inclusion in women’s sport.

He said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the Supreme Court agrees to hear one of the transgender student cases. This is a highly contentious issue on traditional and social media, and the more conservative justices like [Clarence] Thomas and [Samuel A.] Alito [Jr.] have shown little hesitation to jump into the political fray to move the Court further to the right.

“Four justices generally have to agree to review a lower court decision, so even if a more moderate justice like Chief Justice [John] Roberts wants to avoid the politicization of the Court, the other conservative justices can bypass him and finally set a nationwide standard on the rights of transgender students in bathrooms, sports, and elsewhere.”

However Caius Willingham, senior policy council for the National Center for Transgender Equality, told Newsweek putting restrictions on trans women’s access to women’s spaces would be discriminatory and place them in danger, and warned it could also put children in harm’s way.

He said: “Student safety is a priority for every parent, teacher, and child, and transgender students have the same needs as any other student. However, banning children from using the restroom aligning with their gender puts all students at risk. Transgender youth are at increased risk of assault and other forms of harm when forced to use facilities with members of a different gender than the one that they live as every day.

“Preventing transgender students from using the bathrooms or changing rooms corresponding to the gender they live as every day runs counter to the fundamental democratic values that our society is founded upon.”

Gaines previously told Newsweek she had feared for her life after speaking out over trans participation in women’s sports, claiming she’d been physically assaulted, abused and stalked since becoming politically active.

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