AAUW Calls for Renewed Commitment to the Promise of Title IX in Wake of West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox Decisions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Association of University Women (AAUW) expresses concern for the 6–3 decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox. The verdict allows states to bar transgender girls and women from participating on girls’ and women’s school sports teams. The ruling reverses lower court decisions that protected student-athletes Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox from exclusion. The decision does not uphold these bans. Schools and states with existing inclusive policies are permitted to keep them, and states can enact inclusive policies under this ruling.

AAUW CEO Gloria L. Blackwell issued the following statement:

“The Court’s ruling does not change AAUW’s position that transgender women and girls deserve the full protection of our civil rights laws.”

AAUW joined a November 2025 amicus brief in support of the students in today’s cases, affirming that Title IX was created to remedy discrimination rooted in sex stereotyping and was never intended to be weaponized against transgender people. Disappointingly, the Court held that Title IX is limited to “biological sex” discrimination, narrower than the standard applied under other federal nondiscrimination laws.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting, wrote: “A transgender woman penalized for being perceived as aggressive has experienced discrimination ‘on the basis of sex’ just as much as a cisgender woman has… Either way, the institution has imposed its gender-based expectations upon her. And either way, the institution may have violated Title IX.”

This ruling does not alter AAUW’s commitment to the full inclusion of transgender and nonbinary students in all areas of school life. We call on states, school districts, and institutions of higher education to use the authority they retain to protect their transgender students, despite today’s decision.

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AAUW (American Association of University Women) is the nation’s leading organization for equity in higher education and women’s economic empowerment. Founded in 1881 by women who defied society’s conventions by earning college degrees, AAUW has since worked to increase women’s access, opportunity, and equity in higher education through research, advocacy, and philanthropy of over $140 million, supporting thousands of women scholars. Learn more at aauw.org.