AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.

The conservative-majority Supreme Court signaled Tuesday it will rule to uphold state laws in Idaho and West Virginia that ban transgender girls from participating in school sports. Two transgender girls — one in Idaho, the other in West Virginia — wanted to be part of their school’s track teams, but state laws prevented them from participating.

Soon after taking office, President Trump signed an executive order to direct federal agencies to withdraw funding from schools that allow transgender youth to compete in women’s sports.

This is ACLU attorney Chase Strangio.

CHASE STRANGIO: In this moment, in so many halls of power, it feels like people are debating whether or not transgender people exist, whether or not we deserve protections under our Constitution and our civil rights statutes. And today in the Supreme Court, we were able to remind the nine justices that we do exist, that we deserve protections just like everybody else, and that there has been a history of discrimination against us that warrants the court to take a closer look at the type of government targeting that we’ve seen over and over again from states and now from the federal government. Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re joined now by Karen Loewy, senior counsel and director of constitutional law practice at Lambda Legal, in the Supreme Court yesterday, part of the legal team representing the trans student athletes.

Can you tell us their stories? And what do you think the Supreme Court signaled with their questions yesterday, Karen?

KAREN LOEWY: Sure. So, Becky Pepper-Jackson was 11 years old when she tried to join her school’s track and field team. She was starting middle school. She was excited for the opportunity to be part of the team and make new friends and have all the experiences that team participation brings for a young person. Becky is a trans girl. She has — she comes from a family of runners and athletes and was excited to be part of it, and, to our knowledge, is the only trans girl who wants to participate in school athletics in the entire state of West Virginia.

AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to Becky Pepper-Jackson in her own words, when she first filed the lawsuit. At the time, she was 11 years old.

BECKY PEPPER-JACKSON: I first tried out for a school sport my sixth grade year for cross-country. Everyone in my family is runners. So it was nice to get, like, help from them. I originally wanted to try out for the long-distance team, because that’s what I had known and love from cross-country and running with my family. But my coach told me that if I were to just go for long distance, I wouldn’t have made the team, because it was much more competitive during track season. So she encouraged me to try shot put and discus, which, as it turned out, I really loved.

Being able to compete alongside my peers was really fun for me, because it taught me teamwork, I made a lot of friends, but, most of all, I just had fun. And that’s all I wanted to do. When my mom told me about the fact that I wouldn’t be able to play the sports that I love, I was devastated. I asked my mom what my options were. And they said that we could talk to the ACLU and Lambda Legal. And that’s when we filed our lawsuit with them.

AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s Becky Pepper-Jackson. And can you tell us, Karen Loewy, about the other girl?

KAREN LOEWY: Sure. So, Lindsay Hecox is a college student, and she wanted also to try out for the track team. And Idaho, similar to West Virginia, passed a law excluding all trans athletes from participation on women’s sports teams. And states have attempted to justify these things in terms of some sort of alleged sex-based athletic advantage. That’s the reason. Well, for Lindsay, who had been on hormone therapy for over a year, there were findings in the district court that she had no athletic advantage, because of the hormone therapy she had undergone. And for Becky, it’s the same. She tried out for the track team and didn’t make it. She wasn’t good enough. But she also then had the opportunity, because of the injunction, to participate in club sports, club running, club soccer. And she is on track to graduate in the next year and a half or so. And we are, you know, fighting for these young people to be able to participate equally in their school programs.

AMY GOODMAN: Karen, let me ask you about Justice Amy Coney Barrett raising a hypothetical about, I think she said, boys who didn’t make the boys’ team switching to girls’ teams. We only have a minute to go, so can you talk about this fundamental misunderstanding of trans identity? And also, given the court’s 6-3 conservative majority seeming poised to uphold the bans, what immediate national implications are there?

KAREN LOEWY: You know, that does fundamentally misunderstand the nature of who a trans girl is, but it also misses the point. This isn’t about the girls’ teams being worse and the boys’ teams being better. Title IX was about equal educational opportunity, including in sports.

You know, there are lots of ways that the court could rule. I think there are ways that this could be a very narrow, limited ruling about sports in particular. But we will see. It’s really about whether the court is going to uphold trans people’s equal opportunity in all aspects of public life.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you so much for being with us, Karen Loewy, senior counsel, director of constitutional law practice at Lambda Legal, was in the Supreme Court yesterday for oral arguments. Will the Supreme Court uphold bans on transgender girls participating in girls’ sports?

That does it for our show. Tomorrow on Democracy Now!, we’ll be joined by the acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi. Tune in then. Democracy Now! is produced with Mike Burke, Renée Feltz, Deena Guzder, Messiah Rhodes, Nermeen Shaikh, María Taracena, Nicole Salazar, Sara Nasser, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud, Safwat Nazzal. Our executive director is Julie Crosby. Special thanks to Becca Staley, Jon Randolph, Paul Powell, Mike Di Filippo, Miguel Nogueira, Hugh Gran, Carl Marxer, Denis Moynihan, David Prude, Dennis McCormick, Matt Ealy, Anna Özbek, Emily Andersen, Dante Torrieri and Buffy Saint Marie Hernandez. Also, tune in for our special Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. special on Monday, Martin Luther King Day. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks so much for joining us.