South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson has joined 27 other state attorneys general in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow states to enact laws that restrict participation in girls’ sports to biological females. The action comes as the Supreme Court considers cases from West Virginia and Idaho, where similar state laws were previously blocked by federal appeals courts.
The Fourth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals ruled against the West Virginia and Idaho statutes, stating that such laws likely violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourth Circuit also determined that Title IX of the Civil Rights Act requires states to permit transgender girls—biological males who identify as female—to compete on girls’ sports teams.
Attorney General Wilson commented, “The important question here is, can states pass laws to protect girls? Title IX was passed to give them the same opportunities as boys to play sports, and I think we need to uphold that and protect girls in the locker rooms, pools, courts, and fields. I think it’s hard to argue that the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX are not supposed to give equal protection to female athletes.”
In 2022, South Carolina enacted its own version of such legislation with the Save Women’s Sports Act. This law classifies participants on school sports teams according to their biological sex at birth rather than gender identity.
The amicus briefs submitted in support of West Virginia and Idaho were led by attorneys general from Alabama and Arkansas. Other signatories include Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia; additionally West Virginia (for Hecox only), Idaho (for B.P.J. only), Wyoming; and Guam.
Links to read more about these legal briefs are available for Little v. Hecox (https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/22/22-962/312445/20230919122911841_22-962%20tsac%20Alabama.pdf) and West Virginia v. B.P.J. (https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-1072/313376/20230919123323129_23-1072%20tsac%20Alabama.pdf).
