[June 30, 2026] The Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) issues the following statement on U.S. Supreme Court’s historic rulings protecting women and girls in school sports:
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a landmark victory for women and girls, reaffirming that states have both the authority and the responsibility to protect the integrity of female athletes.
In its decision in Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., the Court rejected attempts to redefine longstanding legal protection for women and upheld the principle that sex-separated sports teams serve important and legitimate purposes.
Today, just a week after the 54th anniversary of Title IX, the Supreme Court reaffirmed a simple truth: women’s sports exist to provide women and girls with equal opportunities to compete, succeed, and excel. This ruling is a tremendous victory for girls, parents, and common sense, ensuring that the protections Congress enacted in Title IX remain rooted in biological reality and continue to serve the students they were designed to protect.
SLF applauds the Court for recognizing that constitutional guarantees of equal protection do not require states to ignore biological reality. The Constitution does not compel policymakers to sacrifice fairness for female athletes, nor does Title IX require schools to dismantle the protections that generations of women fought to achieve.
As debates over sex-based protections continue across the country, SLF will remain committed to defending constitutional principles and ensuring that the rights of women and girls are not erased by political ideology.