ACLU of Connecticut Statement on Supreme Court Rulings on Transgender Student Athletes and Birthright Citizenship

Hartford, Conn. – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two major rulings with profound consequences for our communities, here in Connecticut and across the country. The ACLU of Connecticut is devastated by the Court's decision to uphold West Virginia and Idaho’s laws banning transgender girls from participating in high school and college sports. At the same time, we are pleased that the Courts reaffirmed what we already knew — and the president does not get to change — that children born on U.S. soil are citizen of this country.

Today the Supreme Court reaffirmed a principle at the heart of the the Fourteenth Amendment: citizenship is the right to have rights, and it belongs, as the Constitution guarantees, to all who are born in this country. The Court's decision makes clear that the President does not have the power to rewrite the Constitution by executive order.

This ruling matters deeply here in Connecticut, home to immigrant families and mixed-status households in every corner of our state, from Hartford to Danbury to Bridgeport. Connecticut families who feared this executive order can rest assured that the Constitution's guarantee held.

We are devastated by the Court's ruling that states may ban transgender girls from participating in school sports. Every student deserves the chance to play, compete, and belong with their friends and teammates. Sports teach teamwork, build confidence, and create community. No child should be excluded from that experience because of who they are.

While today's ruling is a serious setback, it is not the sweeping national license some politicians will try to claim. The Court did not grant a broad permission to states to restrict the freedom of all transgender people in schools, workplaces, or communities. This decision is specific and limited, and it does not change Connecticut law. The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference's policy, which allows transgender students to participate in school athletics consistent with their gender identity, remains in place, and we will continue to ensure that officials continue to abide by this policy.

Connecticut has stood firm even as the federal government has threatened to withhold funding from school districts that refused to discriminate against transgender student-athletes. We are proud that Connecticut continues to lead with policies grounded in dignity rather than political pressure, and we call on our state's elected officials to publicly recommit to defending transgender students against any attempts, in the wake of today's ruling, to dismantle these protections.

Today's rulings are a reminder that the fight for civil rights and civil liberties is more important than ever. We celebrate what was preserved today, and we grieve what was lost. Both require the same response: continued vigilance, continued organizing, and continued faith that Connecticut can and must lead by example in protecting the rights of all its residents, including transgender people and immigrant families, regardless of what happens at the national level.

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