Justice Clarence Thomas declared Tuesday that “men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are,” writing separately as the Supreme Court upheld state laws restricting girls’ and women’s sports to biological females.
The Court’s 6–3 ruling affirmed that Idaho and West Virginia may enforce laws limiting female athletic competition based on biological sex.
Thomas issued a concurring opinion to address what he described as broader constitutional questions surrounding gender dysphoria and biological sex.
He argued that legislatures have a rational basis for distinguishing between biological males and females in athletics and other settings reserved by sex, rejecting the argument that gender identity should receive heightened constitutional protection.
“Because ‘gender dysphoria’ is a mutable mental state that is the object of psychiatric treatment, it does not resemble the immutable characteristics on the basis of which our precedents have applied heightened scrutiny—race, sex, or national origin,” Thomas wrote. “Instead, gender dysphoria resembles other characteristics on the basis of which legislatures may classify with a merely rational basis.”
Thomas also emphasized that biological sex remains the relevant legal distinction under the Constitution.
“Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are,” he wrote. “Sex is an immutable ‘biological’ characteristic; it is binary; and ‘man’ and ‘woman,’ ‘boy’ and ‘girl,’ are terms that correspond to adults and children of each sex.”
He further criticized language that, in his view, departs from biological reality.
“To use language to obscure reality—to show ‘indifference regarding the truth’—is to lie to the public and cease to treat our fellow citizens ‘as equal[s],’” Thomas wrote, quoting philosopher Josef Pieper, as highlighted by The Daily Signal.
The decision came in the consolidated cases Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., which challenged laws barring biological males from participating on girls’ and women’s athletic teams.
The plaintiffs argued the state laws violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Supreme Court rejected those claims, concluding that states may maintain separate athletic teams based on biological sex, according to People.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Title IX was enacted to expand athletic opportunities for women and girls and that separating sports by biological sex remains consistent with that objective.
“The question before the Court is: Under Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, may schools maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females?” Kavanaugh wrote. “The answer is yes.”
He added that the physical differences between males and females make separate athletic teams a reasonable means of promoting fairness and reducing the risk of injury.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined Kavanaugh’s opinion, along with Thomas and Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented in part, arguing that unresolved factual questions regarding athletic advantage warranted a narrower approach.
President Donald Trump praised the decision in a Truth Social post, calling it a “BIG WIN” and writing that the Supreme Court had “RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.”
The ruling is expected to reinforce similar laws already enacted in more than two dozen states by confirming they do not violate Title IX or the Constitution.
