BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — In a 6-3 ruling split along ideological lines, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said states can ban transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports, though the decision does not require such bans — leaving California’s current law in place for now, despite possible legal challenges ahead.
Under the California Education Code, student-athletes may compete in all school programs, including athletics, that align with their gender identity. That rule is consistent with the California Interscholastic Federation, the state's student-athletic governing body.
Many states have passed laws prohibiting transgender girls and women from competing in women's sports since Idaho first passed its law in 2020. California has taken the opposite approach.
Political analyst Ian Anderson said the ruling does not immediately change anything for California, but it does weaken the state's legal standing.
"For those that have been following this closely in California, nothing changes immediately. But know that this ruling does change, and in a lot of ways weaken some of the legal footing that this policy is currently under," Anderson said. "We're going to have to wait and see, but it does weaken California's position, especially a lot of its position was anchored in Title IX protections, equal participation protections, constitutional components of those things, and so with this ruling, it changes that legal footing. Yet those two cases are still separate.
Public school districts in Kern County are closely following the issue, as some districts have transgender students on their sports teams.
In July 2025, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against California, arguing the state's law violates Title IX. Anderson said he would not be surprised if the fight over laws like California's ultimately reaches the Supreme Court.
"The Department of Justice has sued California over its policies with transgender students and I don't see that this policy issue being one that advocates for those bans step back and take as that they're not going to continue to move forward and use this as an ability to advocate for their policies, so I think it in some ways will give some some motivation," Anderson said.
23ABC reached out to the California Department of Education and CIF for comment to see if they foresee any changes coming from Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling. Both declined to comment, citing the ongoing lawsuit.
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