Sports Participation Bans
Since 2020, anti-LGBTQ activists and politicians have introduced – and passed – laws to ban transgender youth from participating in school sports. The scope of these bans can vary across age ranges, but commonly including both K-12 schools and college settings. These laws mean that transgender girls, for example, would not be allowed to participate in sports with other girls and transgender boys would not be allowed to participate in sports with other boys. Local schools and state athletic associations already have policies that both protect transgender people and ensure a level playing field for all athletes. In contrast, the policies shown below are blanket bans on transgender people’s participation in sports, and these bans are both unnecessary and harmful.
*Notes:
State bans currently blocked (in part or in whole) by court order
Currently, court orders are blocking enforcement of the bans in these states, but the cases are still active in the court system pending further judicial review or appeals.
—Arizona (Doe v. Horne, July 2023, affirmed in Sept 2024)
—Idaho (Hecox v. Little, Aug 2020)
—Utah (Roe v. Utah HSAA, Aug 2022)
—West Virginia (B.P.J. v. West Virginia, July 2021)
Other notesÂ
–In Montana, a 2021 ban was partially blocked by a court ruling (Barrett v. Montana, Sept 2022) but only as it applied to higher education (not K-12). However, in 2025, the state passed a new sports ban that again applied to higher education, and it went into effect on October 1, 2025. Because a subsequent law is now in effect, we do not show the gavel icon above.
–In New Hampshire, the state’s ban is temporarily blocked (Tirrell and Turmelle v. Edelblut, Sept 2024) but only allows the two named plaintiffs in the lawsuit to play school sports while the lawsuit continues. The ban remains in effect for any other transgender student in the state, other than the two named plaintiffs. Because this block applies only to those two students, we do not show the gavel icon above.
–In Virginia, the state’s ban is via agency policy, but many school districts are resisting implementation of these discriminatory policies. Implementation/enforcement of the ban may vary across the state.
Click “Citations & More Information” beneath the map legend for more information on each and every state.
Recommended citation:
Movement Advancement Project. 2026. “Equality Maps: Bans on Transgender Youth Participation in Sports.” https://mapresearch.org/equality-map/bans-on-transgender-youth-participation-in-sports/. Data as of June 12, 2026.
Percent of Transgender Youth Covered by Laws
*Note: These percentages reflect estimates of the transgender youth (ages 13-17) population living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Estimates of transgender youth in the U.S. territories or under age 13 are not available, and so cannot be reflected here. Population estimates are from The Williams Institute.
