Montgomery, AL – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a statement Tuesday following oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. BPJ, two cases addressing whether states may enact laws governing participation in girls’ and women’s sports based on biological sex.
Marshall led amicus briefs urging the Court to uphold states’ authority to regulate athletic participation in order to maintain competitive fairness in female sports. The cases focus on the interpretation of Title IX and whether federal law permits or restricts state policies that classify sports teams by biological sex.
“These cases turn on a basic principle. States have the authority and the responsibility to protect fairness and equal opportunity in girls’ sports, and that authority must be upheld,” Marshall said in a prepared statement. “Title IX was designed to eliminate competitive disadvantages for female athletes, not to force them back into unequal playing fields. This is not about exclusion. It is about defending the integrity of female athletics and the opportunities they provide. The law, the science, and the American public are on our side, and we are confident the Court will be as well.”
In 2023, the Alabama Legislature passed legislation using biological sex rather than gender identity to determine eligibility for sports teams at public schools, including colleges and universities.
The attorney general’s office noted that in September 2025, Marshall co-led a 28-state amicus brief supporting the states’ position in the current cases. The office also referenced prior legal actions during the Biden administration, when Marshall participated in litigation that blocked an attempted expansion of Title IX regulations. Those proposed changes would have extended federal protections to include gender identity in sex-separated spaces such as locker rooms, bathrooms, and sports teams.
The Supreme Court has not yet issued a ruling in either case.
