The US Supreme Court is set to review state bans on trans athletes taking part in women’s sports in a landmark case that will be heard on Tuesday, January 13.

While trans athletes make up only just over 1% of more than 8 million teenage student athletes in the whole country, 29 US states have introduced bans on trans girls and women participating in female sports. Similar bans have also been introduced by the US Olympic Committee and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

The Supreme Court will consider arguments in two cases brought by trans student athletes who challenged such laws in West Virginia and Idaho. One of the cases was brought to court by Lindsay Hecox, a young trans woman from Idaho who last year dropped her suit for personal reasons. The West Virginia case was brought by 15-year-old Becky Pepper Jackson, who launched the legal challenge in 2021.

Pepper Jackson is the only openly trans athlete in West Virginia in any sport. Speaking to ABC News about the case, she said: “Someone has to do it. Someone has to do this for all of us. Otherwise these laws and bills are just going to stand.”

Their cases were previously heard by lower federal courts, which blocked the bans, arguing that they were in violation of Title IX, the civil rights law that promotes equal opportunities. Idaho and West Virginia have appealed those rulings, asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on such issue for the first time.

According to experts, this review could have a significant ripple effect on broader issues beyond youth sports. In addition to determining the fate of similar bans in 27 other US states, the outcome of these cases could have far-reaching consequences on other anti-LGBTQ+ policies and measures.

The anti-LGBTQ+ movement in the US has been targeting trans rights for the last few years, with actors such as the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a major Christian group defending the state bans, leading the charge. The Trump administration has also acted to ensure the exclusion of trans athletes from sports in the US, with the president signing an executive order to cut federal funding for educational programmes that included trans women and girls.

Studies have shown that trans women have no advantage over their cisgender counterparts in playing sports, and LGBTQ+ activists have long stressed that there is no credible evidence that inclusive sports policies are endangering cis girls and women. Despite this, banning trans athletes from women’s sports has become a central topic in Republican rhetoric.