The U.S. Supreme Court's six-judge conservative majority ruled transgender athlete bans are constitutional this week, making way for the NCAA to continue its restrictions on said athletes.
The ruling will not change any policies held by MSU regarding transgender athletes, MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant said, adding there are no transgender individuals on any varsity programs.
“Given the State of Michigan's existing law, nothing changes for us at MSU,” Guerrant said. "MSU does not have any transgender athletes on varsity teams.”
As for non Division I sports at MSU, transgender athletes will still be allowed to participate in recreational and club sports since there is no state-wide ban set by the Michigan Legislature.
In the majority opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted the physical differences between men and women in contact sports.
“Females and Males have inherent physical differences relevant to athletic performance,” Kavanaugh wrote. “The differences include, among other things, height, weight, strength, speed, endurance, and jumping ability. Therefore, in contact sports, forcing female athletes to compete against males can create significant safety risks. And in virtually all competitive sports, forcing female athletes to compete against males can undermine competitive fairness.”
The question of the case stems from Title IX language, which outlaws sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funding. The law says no person shall be prohibited from competition “on the basis of sex.”
Kavanaugh and the court agreed that, in sports, an athlete’s sex refers to their gender assigned at birth.
“The ordinary meaning of the term “sex” at the time of enactment in the early 1970s was biological sex and not gender identity, particularly in the sports context,” Kavanaugh wrote.
In February 2025, President Donald Trump signed the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order, restricting transgender athletes' participation in women's sports. The order states it will rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities, a category that includes public institutions such as Michigan State University.
