Must Read of the Day

The Supreme Court this week will weigh in on two hotly-debated cases wrestling with the presence of transgender girls and women in women’s sports. The court will hear oral arguments in cases from Idaho and West Virginia on Tuesday. At hand is a legal debate on the merits of the Title IX phrase “on the basis of sex” as well as the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. Advocates for trans athletes say banning them violates both, citing previous workplace-related rulings that protect trans people. But opponents argue that common sense shows there are immutable biological differences between men and women and athletes are defying the natural binary between athletes of the two sexes. Michael Smerconish talks to SCOTUSblog co-founder and reporter Amy Howe, who explains the existing case law and previews the cases in front of the court this week.