The topic Melania Trump voices support for gay rights in rare political statement following… is drawing steady attention: readers, analysts, and industry watchers are all tracking how the story may unfold in the days ahead.
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First Lady Melania Trump voiced her support for the LGBT community in a rare public statement on Tuesday, following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold states’ ban on transgender athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports in schools.
Melania began her post on X by quoting her own memoir, in which she said she ‘fully’ supports the ‘LGBTQIA+ community,’ but emphasizes that society ‘must also ensure that our female athletes are protected and respected.’
‘The US Supreme Court has now legally confirmed this opinion,’ she noted, before quoting the Supreme Court’s majority opinion in which the justices ruled the bans on transgender athletes do not go against Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
‘America, we can support the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community and also protect opportunities for female athletes,’ the first lady concluded. ‘Respect everyone and keep girls’ sports fair.
Her husband, President Donald Trump, had earlier celebrated the ruling, posting on his Truth Social page: ‘BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS. Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!’
Conservative gender policies – specifically ‘keeping men out of women’s sports’ –were an important part of Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign.
First Lady Melania Trump issued a rare political statement on Tuesday, following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold states’ bans on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports
The First Lady quoted from her own memoir as she said she ‘fully’ supports the ‘LGBTQIA+ community’
Tuesday’s ruling overturned decisions by lower courts that sided with trans students who challenged bans in Idaho and West Virginia as violating the Constitution and a federal anti-discrimination law.
West Virginia’s ban dates to April 2021, but was blocked three years later by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In his majority decision, Justice Brett Kavanaugh ruled that Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education, supports the idea of ‘separate sports teams for biological males and biological females.
‘Given the inherent physical differences between the sexes, allowing only biological females to play on women’s and girls’ teams can reduce the risk of physical injury and ensure fair competition,’ he wrote.
Kavanaugh then went on to argue that allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports can put biological female athletes ‘at a serious disadvantage.
‘Allowing a biological male athlete to compete on a girls’ team necessarily displaces or disadvantages a female athlete – replacing her on the roster, knocking her out of the starting lineup, reducing her playing time, depriving her of a medal and the like,’ he wrote.
Tuesday’s ruling overturned decisions by lower courts that sided with trans students who challenged bans in Idaho and West Virginia as violating the Constitution and a federal anti-discrimination law
Defenders of female sports categories were seen gathering in front of the Supreme Court as they awaited the decision on Tuesday
‘That hard reality of sports cannot be ignored or swept under the rug.’
Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas concurred, writing: ‘Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are.’
In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, also acknowledged that the conservative majority was largely correct in rejecting the athlete’s Title IX claims.
But she argued that the Court needed to give the West Virginia athlete more time to pursue arguments related to the Equal Protection clause.
‘In an opinion unencumbered by fact or law,’ Sotomayor wrote scathingly, ‘the majority today cuts off that process prematurely.’
She was supported by fellow female justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in the dissent.
‘The people who claim to champion women’s rights just voted AGAINST women’s and girls’ protections in sports,’ popular right-wing influencer Libs of TikTok wrote on X after the decision was released. ‘Democrats hate women. Never forget.’
Sonia Sotomayor (L), Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan (R) dissented in the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on state bans of trans-identifying athletes
‘The party of women votes against women,’ South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace wrote on X. ‘You can’t make this stuff up.’
Conservative activist Riley Gaines, who competed against a trans athlete as an NCAA swimmer, also slammed the liberal dissent on X.
‘Jackson, Kagan, and Sotomayor ruled against women having equal protection under the law,’ she wrote. ‘Liberal women, yet again, prove to be the biggest hurdle women face.’
Author Michael Rothman said in a post lauding the conservative majority’s decision: ‘Three female justices voted to let biological males take medals, scholarships, and podiums from girls.’