In response to a challenge by the state of West Virginia to enforce a law that prohibits transgender athletes from competing on female school sports teams, the Supreme Court has ruled that they can do so.

The justices denied the state’s emergency request to lift an appeals court’s injunction, which allowed a transgender girl to compete on her middle school’s female teams until a final decision is reached by the three-judge panel. The ruling was made in a brief, unsigned order.

The case will now proceed to a full appeal hearing by the appeals panel, and there is a possibility that it could be brought back to the Supreme Court, the Hill reported.

Justice Samuel Alito in a statement joined by Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting from the decision said the case “concerns an important issue that this Court is likely to be required to address in the near future.”

Written by staff