The Supreme Court’s recent decision on trans athletes in women’s sports has significant implications for lawsuits filed by female athletes seeking damages. The ruling, which stated that Title IX allows federally funded schools and states to separate athletic teams based on biological sex, may prove to be a turning point for women suing the NCAA, universities, and athletic conferences over past transgender-athlete policies.

Lawsuits and Rulings

Riley Gaines’ lawsuit against the NCAA and Brooke Slusser’s lawsuit against San Jose State and the Mountain West Conference are two notable cases that may be impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision. Both cases seek damages for female athletes who claim they lost equal opportunities, privacy, safety, or fair competition under policies that allowed transgender-identifying male athletes to compete in women’s sports.

Bill Bock, an attorney leading both cases, stated that the Supreme Court ruling is ‘huge’ because it ‘absolutely shredded’ the reasoning used by lower courts and athletic bodies that had argued Title IX required schools to allow biological males who identify as female to compete in women’s sports. The NCAA, Mountain West, and the institutions being sued now ‘had no basis for what they did to women,’ according to Bock.

Reactions and Next Steps

Former University of Arizona swimming star Marshi Smith, co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), said the Supreme Court ruling was a ‘huge battle won,’ but not the end of the fight. ‘We’re lacking accountability still,’ Smith said, pointing to women and girls who say they lost ‘titles, national championships, even up to world championships, records, roster spots, scholarships.’ The next stage of the fight will be whether courts treat the Supreme Court’s answer as enough to hold the NCAA, universities, or other athletic bodies financially accountable for past seasons.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.