This is Brian Lairr's Daily Politics podcast from WNYC Studios.

It's Wednesday, January 14.

It's the Brian Lair show on WNYC.

I'm producer Amina Serna filling in for Brian today.

Good morning again, everyone.

Yesterday, the court heard oral arguments on two major cases, challenging state laws that ban transgender athletes from competing on girls' sports teams. The cases involve two transgender

athletes, Lindsay Hickox, who tried out for Boise State's track team, and 15-year-old Becky Pepper Jackson from West Virginia.

Lower courts in both Idaho and West Virginia ruled in favor of the athletes, issuing injunctions that blocked enforcement of state bans.

But nationwide, 27 states have passed similar

laws in recent years. The legal question facing the court is whether these states, these

bans violate the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex

discrimination in education. With me now, to review yesterday's oral arguments and what's at

stake is Kate Shaw, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, co-host of the

Supreme Court podcast, Strict Scrutiny, and a contributing opinion writer with the New York Times.

Professor Shaw, welcome back to WMIC. Good to be with you,

Amina. I started introducing the facts of the two cases argued yesterday in the Supreme Court. So can

you continue there? Can you set the scene for us? Who are the individuals at the center of these cases?

Sure. Well, you set it up exactly right. One of the students was a college-would-be athlete and the other a middle school would-be athlete. The first, Lindsay Hickox, wanted to run track and field at Boise State. And there's sort of a wrinkle in her case, which is that she actually is seeking to have the case dismissed. She was permitted to try out, and actually, after winning in the lower courts,

and actually didn't make the team and has decided in actually really kind of heartbreaking

terms to try to end this litigation because she just doesn't want to pursue college athletics

anymore. The publicity associated with the litigation and her desire just to focus on her

studies and finish college has led

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