Why Roberts and Gorsuch may decide the Supreme Court’s blockbuster transgender sports case

The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to weigh in on transgender sports bans will put two conservative justices in the spotlight in coming months, both because of what they have said in past cases involving LGBTQ rights – and what they haven’t.

The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to weigh in on transgender sports bans will put two conservative justices in the spotlight in coming months, both because of what they have said in past cases involving LGBTQ rights – and what they haven’t. Only two justices have written majority opinions involving transgender Americans – Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch – and both avoided revealing their thoughts about the sports cases last month when, in a blockbuster ruling, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans youth. For the second time in as many years the high court will wrestle with a heated legal dispute involving young transgender Americans at a time when they are facing severe political backlash driven in part by President Donald Trump and conservative states. The court agreed to hear appeals in two related cases challenging laws in West Virginia and Idaho that ban transgender girls and women from competing on women’s sports teams – including one that was filed by a middle school student at the time. While the court swerved around fundamental questions about trans rights in last month’s decision in US v. Skrmetti, it will be far harder to do so in the sports cases. And that could put enormous focus on Roberts and Gorsuch. “Even though the court ruled against the transgender plaintiffs in Skrmetti, it did not decide the larger and more important question of whether discrimination based on transgender status triggers more searching judicial review,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center.