This story is developing and will continue to be updated.
States may prevent transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.
The court unanimously agreed that barring transgender girls and women doesn’t violate the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education. The decision comes almost one year after Penn affirmed its Title IX compliance across all athletic programs in a settlement with the federal government.
The court’s six-justice conservative majority, which has repeatedly ruled against transgender Americans in the past year, ruled that state bans in Idaho and West Virginia don’t violate the Constitution.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for the court that “states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females” to address safety and competitive fairness concerns. He added that “the Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America.”
As part of the University’s July 2025 resolution with the Education Department, Penn Athletics agreed to “adopt biology-based definitions for the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ pursuant to Title IX and consistent with President Trump’s Executive Orders.”
The Department of Education first opened a Title IX investigation into Penn in February 2025 after the University allowed 2022 College graduate and transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete on the women’s swimming and diving team during the 2021-22 season.
The next month, the Trump administration paused $175 million in federal funding to Penn after flagging the University’s “policies forcing women to compete with men in sports.”
Penn and the federal government reached the settlement after two months of negotiations. The agreement mandated that Penn release a statement reiterating compliance with Title IX, restore accolades “misappropriated” by transgender athletes to female athletes, and send individual apology letters to affected athletes. The agreement also restored the $175 million in funding that was previously paused.
Earlier this year, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon cited Penn’s compliance with the federal government over Title IX as a model for how the White House plans to address transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports.
At the time, McMahon also referred to 2022 Engineering graduate Paula Scanlan, who was Thomas’ teammate, adding that she was “forced to share locker rooms and compete against a much larger man who had previously competed (without much success) on the men’s team.”
On Tuesday, Scanlan expressed relief at the Court’s ruling and argued in favor of further state legislation to limit participation in women’s sports.
McMahon wrote in a June 30 press release that “the Trump Administration has fought to restore Title IX’s protections for women and girls since Day One.”
“Today’s ruling cements those reforms and builds on decades of work to secure equal educational opportunities for women and girls,” she wrote. “This is a tremendous victory, and we look forward to ensuring that every educational institution in America abides by the law of the land.”
Staff reporter Lavanya Mani covers legal affairs and can be reached at mani@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies English. Follow her on X @lavanyamani_.
