The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the argument that federal law requires schools to allow transgender athletes to compete on girls’ sports teams. In a 6-3 decision, the court said the word “sex,” as used in Title…

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the argument that federal law requires schools to allow transgender athletes to compete on girls’ sports teams.

In a 6-3 decision, the court said the word “sex,” as used in Title IX, the Javits Amendment, and Title IX regulations, refers to biological sex rather than gender identity.

“The term ‘sex’ in Title IX, the Javits Amendment, and the Title IX regulations cannot plausibly be interpreted to refer to anything other than biological sex,” the decision said.

The ruling is a major setback for transgender-rights advocates who have argued that gender identity should determine eligibility in school sports and other sex-separated spaces. Supporters of that view have said students should be allowed to participate in programs that align with their gender identity, including athletic teams.

The court’s decision takes a different view. The majority concluded that the existing federal law does not require schools to treat gender identity as the controlling factor in sports eligibility. Instead, the justices said the law’s use of “sex” is tied to biological sex.

The ruling does not appear to settle every question surrounding transgender athletes in school sports. The justices did not say that all states or school districts must ban transgender athletes from girls’ teams. Instead, the decision says federal law does not force schools to allow that participation under Title IX.

That distinction leaves room for continued political and legal fights at the state and local levels. Some states have already passed laws restricting participation in girls’ sports based on biological sex, while others have adopted policies allowing students to compete according to gender identity. The court’s ruling means those debates are likely to continue rather than disappear.

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For those who have pushed for sex-based rules in athletics, the decision is being viewed as a significant victory. They have argued that girls’ sports were created to provide fair opportunities for female athletes and that allowing biological males to compete in those categories undermines that purpose.

Transgender-rights groups and their allies, however, are expected to criticize the ruling as harmful to transgender students. They have argued that excluding transgender athletes from teams matching their gender identity is discriminatory and isolates vulnerable young people from school activities.

The court’s decision ultimately narrows the question to what federal law currently requires. According to the majority, Title IX does not mandate the inclusion of transgender athletes on girls’ teams. At the same time, the ruling stops short of requiring every jurisdiction to adopt the same policy, leaving the issue in the hands of lawmakers, school officials, and future courts.

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