Network Statement on Supreme Court Arguments Impacting Trans Youth in Sports
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox — two cases that will shape whether transgender youth are allowed to play on the same school sports teams as their peers. These cases were never only about sports — they were about whether transgender and nonbinary young people are allowed to participate fully in public life: in our schools, our communities, and our future. The arguments heard today will influence how civil rights are understood and enforced for transgender youth moving forward.
We witnessed arguments that treated trans youth as political pawns rather than as human beings who deserve dignity, safety, and belonging. At the center of these cases are young people who ask for the same opportunities as everyone else — to learn collaboration, build friendships, feel accepted, and thrive. Excluding trans youth from sports does not protect anyone. It encourages scrutiny of children’s bodies, fuels gender policing, and creates hostile school environments, not safer ones.
“This hostility doesn’t stop at youth. These rules and narratives contribute to real harm and violence against transgender adults, and our trans youth shouldn’t have to grow up in a world that treats their existence as a threat,” stated Dannie Cesena, director of the CA LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network. “Everyone deserves the chance to live freely, safely, and authentically for who they are. Sports help young people build confidence, learn leadership, and develop self-respect. They’re where kids learn what it means to be part of a team. When we deny a child the chance to play because of who they are, we deny them these essential life lessons — and the mental health benefits that come with them.”
Excluding trans youth from school sports does not “protect” anyone. It encourages surveillance of children’s bodies, fuels gender policing, and emboldens harassment against transgender, nonbinary, and intersex students. These forms of state-sanctioned stigma are deeply harmful to young people’s physical and mental health. When trans youth are denied access to affirming spaces, the result is increased anxiety, depression, suicidality, and social isolation. When they are supported, they flourish.
Arguments like these were used to justify stripping trans youth of full participation in community life, despite having no basis in science, fairness, or reality. It is important to be clear: no credible research supports claims that trans youth playing school sports are a threat or disadvantage to anyone. Most young people — trans or not — play sports for joy, community, and health.
Meanwhile, politicians have spent years manufacturing fear, pushing legislation that would subject youth to invasive genital examinations, hormonal testing, and public outing. These policies weaponize stigma and deepen the mental health crisis among trans youth, who already face disproportionate barriers to care, safety, and acceptance.
We refuse to allow fearmongering to erase trans people from public life. Transgender people have always existed. Long before Western law tried to legislate gender, Indigenous cultures across the world recognized identities beyond man and woman. Attempts to force us back into rigid binaries serve no one and only perpetuate violence, unrealistic expectations, and social shame that harm everyone’s mental health.
No matter how the Supreme Court ultimately rules, we stand with transgender youth and their families. We will continue defending their right to exist safely, to access healthcare, to find joy, to build community, and to be recognized for who they are — not who politicians want them to be.
Trans youth deserve better from this country. They deserve a team, a community, and a future. And we will never stop fighting for the T in Team.