The Supreme Court today has rejected a request from West Virginia to lift a stay on it’s law banning biological males from female sports.
The court did so with no explanation, however both Justice Alito and Thomas dissented against the ruling, saying they would have granted the state’s request for a stay.
#SCOTUS rejects West Virginia's request to enforce state law barring transgender girls from girls' sports teams against 12-year-old wanting to compete on her middle-school track team while litigation continues. Here is order: https://t.co/8rJS5urLga
— Amy Howe (@AHoweBlogger) April 6, 2023
The dissent is very short for this ruling and it’s a little complicated since West Virginia let the stay stand for 18 months before finally asking for relief.
Alito explains the case here:
Alito offers his reasons for dissenting and why he would have granted relief. In short, Alito and Thomas would have granted the stay since the lower court blocked the law without explanation:
I hope the Supreme Court refused this based on some technical aspect and that this isn’t indicative of how the court might rule on the merits of such a law in the future.