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Adam Zivo: Why American transgender athletes lost the right to play female sports

New U.S. Supreme Court decision upheld protections for sex, not gender

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that states can ban trans-identifying males (“transgender women”) from female sports in the interest of athletic fairness. Although critics have denounced this decision as discriminatory, it is, in reality, a victory for common sense and judicial restraint.

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Over the past six years, 27 states have enacted policies barring males, regardless of their gender identity, from competing in female sports. Their rationale has been straightforward: males enjoy an inherent strength advantage over females and ergo cannot fairly compete against them, and this advantage is not erased when transgender-identified males use puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones.

Adam Zivo: Why American transgender athletes lost the right to play female sports Back to video

Two transgender students separately challenged these bans in West Virginia and Idaho, where they initially secured favourable rulings in lower courts. The Supreme Court then adjudicated their cases together and overturned the previous rulings, establishing a definitive national precedent.

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The litigants argued that the bans violated Title IX —  a civil rights statute which bars discrimination “on the basis of sex” — and the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which guarantees equality under the........

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