Photo Courtesy of Grace Herold, Concerned Women for America

JUNE 30- In another landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld state laws that protected women’s athletics from unfair male competition, and your voice made it happen! 

Supreme Court justices wrote powerful opinions on the decision. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, author of the majority opinion wrote, 

“We hold that the States may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females. They may determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex. The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America.” 

Justice Kavanaugh was joined in the majority vote by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Barrett, as the ruling went 6-3.

Details of the Case 

A few years ago, the West Virginia and Idaho Legislatures passed bills to keep men out of women’s sports – but the ACLU challenged the laws on behalf of two males who identified as female and sought validation to compete on the women’s teams.

Lower appellate courts sided with the ACLU and disregarded the states’ efforts to keep men out of women’s sports, further enabling men to trample on female athletics. The ideology underpinning this effort is not just causing harm to athletics, but victimizing children by affirming a lie about their body. 

That all came to a close, as the Supreme Court voted to overturn the lower courts’ decisions in West Virginia and Idaho that were in favor of the two biological men who attempted to compete in women’s sports.

The nation is in celebration over the ruling, as the Supreme Court has now affirmed that personal feelings do not trump biology. This decision will serve as tremendous precedent and defense for over 25 other states that have laws keeping women’s sports exclusive to biological women. 

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, 

“Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are. Sex is an immutable “biological” characteristic… it is binary; and “man” and “woman,” “boy” and “girl” are the terms that correspond to adults and children of each sex… To use language to obscure reality–to show “indifference regarding the truth” –is to lie to the public and cease to treat our fellow citizens “as equal.”

How Your Voice Mattered

South Dakota Family Voice joined 37 other states and 206 female state legislators in sending an amici curiae brief (Latin for “friend of the court”) to the Supreme Court. 

An amici curiae brief is a legal document filed in court by an individual or organization who is not a party to a lawsuit, but has a strong interest or expertise relevant to the case. It allows non-parties such as advocacy groups like SD Family Voice to provide courts with relevant legal arguments, specialized expertise, or data the direct parties may not have covered. 

These briefs often highlight how a pending court decision might affect third parties or the public at large, ensuring the court’s ruling takes broader societal impacts into account. These briefs are strictly used to assist judges in their decision-making. 

The brief contained several pages of signers and arguments as to why upholding state law keeping transgender athletes out of women’s sports is essential to fairness in athletics. 

Part of the argument summary read, 

“If this fundamental change (allowing transgender athletes in women’s sports regardless of state law) is allowed to occur, it is likely to have effects on women’s sports–and on the nationwide consensus in favor of them–that are at best deeply uncertain, and at worst will fundamentally alter women’s sports until they are unrecognizable.”

The SD Family Voice team was proud to bring your voice to the Supreme Court. By standing together on this issue, we have been able to not only protect athletics here in our state with legislation, but help secure a lasting victory that affects every other state that has the courage to take action. 

Your engagement has ripple effects across the nation!

Reasons to be Thankful

We have immense gratitude, as equality in women’s sports is being preserved, not only at the state-level, but is now truly being upheld by the nation as a whole. The highest court in the country holds that men cannot be women, and absolutely have no place in their athletics. Today’s ruling serves as a vital encouragement to female athletes that fair competition is not too much to ask for. The fight isn’t over, but wins like these continue to bolster hope for America’s future.