06/30/2026
KENTUCKY SHOULD NOT TURN EXCLUSION INTO POLICY
by Keith D. Elston, KYLP Legal Director
June 30, 2026
The Supreme Court has spoken, and the legal debate may be over. But the human question lingers: What kind of Commonwealth do we want to be?
Kentucky gave us part of the answer in 2022 when it enacted Senate Bill 83, with language very similar to West Virginia’s law banning transgender students from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. The result won’t be academic. It will affect real people. It already has. These laws harm a very small minority of students. That harm is too often justified on the grounds that so few students are affected. But an injury to one is not less severe because others are unaffected.
These laws can ruin lives. The harm inflicted by these laws on the few transgender young people whose privacy is invaded and who are kept from fully participating in team life is immense.
School sports are supposed to teach lessons of discipline and teamwork. They are supposed to build resilience and a sense of belonging. When transgender students are banned from athletic teams that match their identity, none of that is possible. These blanket bans say: Sure, you can practice. Sure, you can train. Sure, you can spend time with your teammates on the bench. But you cannot fully belong. That is not fair. It is cruel. Exclusion has real consequences.
We hear a lot about equal opportunity these days. Equal opportunity does not require the government to target a tiny subset of students for heightened scrutiny and distrust. Kentucky’s schools already know how to address controversies in athletics. Age restrictions. Eligibility rules. Academic standards. Safety rules. Team classifications. Schools use these and other tools to promote fairness in athletics because school sports are complex. Bans are not complex. Bans ignore nuance in favor of political grandstanding at the expense of minors’ dignity.
The impact of these laws goes far beyond just making a team. Prohibiting transgender kids from joining the teams that match their identity causes shame, isolation, anxiety, and depression. It means that every time a team takes the field, a child might think of how they are being kept out. It brands young people with the message that their very bodies need to be policed, monitored, or eliminated from school life. This is not the lesson Kentucky should be sending to its kids.
This is particularly true in Kentucky because we tried going down this road and learned how detrimental it is. When Kentucky’s legislature passed a law similar to West Virginia’s, it signaled to young people that some kids do not belong. Some kids can be injured so that others might feel better about their political views. The impact of these laws is minor when spread across all the students in Kentucky. But for the students who get slammed with restrictions on their privacy and team participation, the law’s message is immense.
Kentucky does not need to amplify that harm. The Supreme Court’s decision does not force communities to act unkindly toward their children. Legislators, school boards, school coaches, and athletic associations can all choose to maintain policies that preserve student privacy, treat every student with respect, and ensure every student can continue to seek opportunities to participate. They can choose to remember that fairness and inclusion are not mutually exclusive.
Kentucky should want to be a place that builds up its youth, not tears them down. If school sports are about lessons, let’s teach kids that no matter who they are or how they identify, they are always welcome to play. Let’s lead with hope and compassion rather than fear. And let’s remember that public education should open doors for kids, not close them.
We can do better. Kentucky can still choose better, even after the Court’s decision.
