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Conservative justice swipes at DOJ in trans sports case: ‘I don’t think you’re a PhD in this stuff’
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Justice Neil Gorsuch pressed the Department of Justice on Tuesday about the potential nationwide consequences of a Supreme Court ruling allowing states to ban transgender athletes who identify as women from competing in women’s and girls’ sports.
Gorsuch grilled Principal Deputy Solicitor General Hashim Mooppan, who appeared on behalf of the government, during oral arguments about a case examining West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act. Gorsuch asked Mooppan how a decision in favor of West Virginia’s law, which blocked biological boys from participating in girls’ sports, would jibe with Title IX and the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
Gorsuch used a hypothetical involving other academic programs to test how far sex-based distinctions could extend under Title IX, which bans sex-based discrimination in education.
SUPREME COURT WEIGHS STATES’ POWER TO SET SEX-BASED RULES IN SCHOOL SPORTS
Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch stands during a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, April 23, 2021. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)
«What about the hypothetical I posed earlier that, when it comes to high school performance, girls sure are a lot better than boys, and so we’re only going to have remedial classes for boys, and girls aren’t free to attend. … Let’s say I’ve got really good science,» Gorsuch said. «I mean, it’s all about the science, right? I got the science.»
Mooppan said that while men and women are typically equal under laws and the Constitution, «real, enduring obvious differences» mattered in sports. Mooppan sought to dismiss any «pseudoscience» Gorsuch was suggesting.
«With all respect, I don’t think there’s any science anywhere that is suggesting that these sort of intellectual differences are traceable to biological differences,» he said.
Gorsuch shot back: «With respect, I don’t think you’re a PhD in this stuff, and neither – I know I’m not, but I’m asking to deal with a hypothetical.»
A demonstrator holds a sign outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Gorsuch continued to question how potentially allowing West Virginia to discriminate on the basis of sex was possible in sports but not in other areas of education.
«The statute says no discrimination on the basis of sex, and you’re saying, ‘yeah, it’s okay when they’re not similarly situated.’ And when you’re worried about locker rooms, great. I appreciate that, but I’m worried about that math remedial class or the chess club or whatever,» Gorsuch said.
Gorsuch was more confrontational with the states and the DOJ than the other Republican-appointed justices. At one point, however, he observed an increase in recent decades in women and girls participating in sports and grappled with the idea that transgender athletes competing with them could potentially «undermine» that progress.
Appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017, Gorsuch famously wrote the majority opinion in another case about gender identity, Bostock v. Clayton County. Gorsuch sided in that case with the liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts, resulting in a 6-3 decision that employees cannot be discriminated against based on sex, and that sex included sexual orientation and gender identity.
Gorsuch repeatedly raised that decision Tuesday, asking Mooppan at one point: «Bostock does not control here because – fill in the blank.»
WASHINGTON POST URGES SUPREME COURT TO ‘SAVE WOMEN’S SPORTS’ AHEAD OF MAJOR TRANS ATHLETE CASE
A protester drapes themselves in a transgender pride flag outside the Supreme Court as it hears arguments over state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
West Virginia attorneys argued in court papers that Bostock was irrelevant to their case because Bostock dealt with Title VII, which governs discrimination in the workplace, whereas Title IX deals with education, where «biological differences are critical to athletic fairness.» Sex was less relevant in the workplace than in education, they argued.
West Virginia v. B.P.J. centers on a 15-year-old transgender athlete who identifies as a girl and who argued the state’s ban violated both the Constitution and Title IX.
The case was one of two the Supreme Court heard on Tuesday about state laws that ban transgender athletes who identify as female from participating in sports exclusive to women or girls. The conservative justices largely appeared sympathetic to those laws, but it was not immediately clear where each of them would land on the issue.
A decision by the court, expected by early summer, could have far-reaching impacts.
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A ruling in favor of the states could not only uphold their bans and those in some two dozen other states but could also influence other transgender policy disputes, such as bathroom policies and sex designation on documents, including passports and driver’s licenses.
A ruling in favor of the transgender plaintiffs could serve to limit states’ ability to adopt similar bans and broaden interpretations of federal anti-discrimination laws.
supreme court,judiciary,sports
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Donald Trump vuelve a amenazar a Irán, mantiene sus tropas en la zona y no es claro cómo sigue la tregua
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Inside Tehran after strikes: Iranian woman describes fear, checkpoints and people used as ‘human shields’
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An anonymous Iranian woman has bravely stepped forward on the international stage to describe what’s really happening on the ground in Tehran as President Donald Trump’s two-week ceasefire with Iran tentatively began Tuesday.
In an essay published in The Australian, the anonymous author details nightly explosions, sweeping checkpoints and communications blackouts as a part of Iranian daily life since the beginning of operations launched by the United States and Israel in February.
«In effect, ordinary people have been turned into human shields within a vast militarized landscape,» she wrote. «A pervasive sense of anger, paranoia and exhaustion has taken hold.»
Flagrant public executions of protesters by the thousands by the Iranian regime in January moved residents to cheer on the initial days of attacks by U.S. and Israeli forces as Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28.
WHY TRUMP, IRAN SEEM LIGHT-YEARS APART ON ANY POSSIBLE DEAL TO END THE WAR
Iranians gather after a ceasefire announcement at Enqelab Square, Wednesday, in Tehran. The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire Tuesday, barely an hour before President Donald Trump’s deadline to obliterate the rival country was set to expire. Tehran temporarily reopened the vital Strait of Hormuz. (AFP via Getty Images)
«They say they’ve hit the leader’s residence,» the author’s daughter was quoted saying. «All the children were screaming and cheering. … Even our teacher was quietly snapping their fingers and dancing.»
The author described everyday Iranians celebrating the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei that same Saturday, and the streets of Tehran filling with cheers of «death to the dictator.»
«Perhaps for the first time,» the anonymous author recalled, «we allowed ourselves to believe our long-held dream was beginning to take shape.»
RED CROSS SHARES AUDIO OF IRANIAN CIVILIAN EXPLAINING SITUATION ON THE GROUND IN TEHRAN: ‘NO RESPITE’
A woman sits on rubble across from a building damaged during airstrikes March 12 in Tehran, Iran. (Vahid Salemi/AP)
But soon enough, the reality of day-to-day life under a threatened, crumbling regime and ongoing attacks took a toll. One of the harshest realities those on the ground in Iran face is the internet blackout, effectively ending communications with the outside world and leading to great uncertainty at the hands of the regime.
«So far, none of those close to us have suffered physical harm, but no night is calm,» the Iranian woman wrote. «What weighs most heavily is not only the war itself, but the possibility that it may end leaving behind a regime even more authoritarian, more repressive and more violent.»
According to the author, a stubborn faction of regime supporters remain, blasting propaganda on loudspeakers nightly through the streets of Tehran and reinforcing its authority to those who support the revolution.
TRUMP’S IRAN CEASEFIRE ROCKED WITHIN HOURS AMID REPORTED MISSILE, DRONE ATTACKS
Rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed building after an airstrike March 27 in Tehran, Iran. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
«The streets are now covered with checkpoints,» she wrote. «Under bridges and along main roads, movement is restricted. Long traffic lines form. Young people are stopped, their phones inspected under the pretext of routine checks.»
After the announcement of the ceasefire between U.S. forces and the Iranian regime Tuesday, the author said, most of her country went to sleep that night in a «state of deep anxiety.»
«What weighs most heavily is not only the war itself, but the possibility that it may end up leaving behind a regime even more authoritarian, more repressive, and more violent,» the author notes.
She urged a ceasefire that is not «abandonment,» but peace, destabilizing the Iranian regime.
«A ceasefire that stabilizes the current order, without addressing the demands that have brought Iranians into the streets for years, risks being experienced not as peace, but as abandonment,» the author wrote.
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Negotiations between Iran and the U.S. are scheduled to begin Friday in Pakistan.
«We wait, and we continue, in whatever ways possible, to insist that light will eventually overcome this darkness,» she concluded.
The Australian notes the author remains anonymous for «fear of retribution.»
war with iran, iran, israel, world, geopolitics, military, donald trump
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Elecciones en Hungría: después de 16 años en el poder, Viktor Orbán busca otro mandato frente a un rival en ascenso
Viktor Orbán, el primer ministro ultranacionalista de Hungría y uno de los políticos más controvertidos de Europa, buscará este domingo su cuarta reelección consecutiva en clara desventaja, según todas las encuestas.
Tras 16 años en el poder, los sondeos señalan que el premier podría perder las elecciones frente a su rival, el conservador Péter Magyar, de 45 años y líder del partido Tisza, en medio de una fuerte radicalización de su discurso.
El líder de la derecha populista húngara está en el poder desde 2010 con mayorías parlamentarias de dos tercios al frente de un sistema político centralizado y personalista que tensó cada vez más su relación con la Unión Europea (UE).
Orbán, líder del partido Fidesz, es el principal aliado de Rusia entre los líderes de los 27 países de la UE y un fuerte crítico de las sanciones europeas a Moscú por la invasión de Ucrania. Ha sido, en los últimos años, una piedra en el zapato para las políticas de Bruselas en el conflicto.
La última encuesta, publicada la semana pasada por el Centro de Investigaciones 21, otorga al Tisza el 56 % de los votos, 19 puntos más que al Fidesz de Orban, de 62 años.
En ese escenario adverso, el gobierno de Donald Trump envió esta semana a Budapest a su vice, J.D. Vance, para demostrar su respaldo al gobierno de Orbán, en un intento por traccionar el voto oficialista.
La campaña culmina en un ambiente de elevada tensión
La campaña para las elecciones generales de este domingo culmina en un ambiente tenso, marcado por acusaciones de injerencias extranjeras, compra de votos y otros fraudes electorales.
Un reciente estudio del instituto Publicus publicado en el diario independiente Népszava señala que el 79 % de los húngaros considera posible que algún país extranjero realice acciones secretas para influir en las elecciones.
El candidato opositor Peter Magyar, líder del partido Tisza (Foto: REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo)
El 46 % apunta a Rusia, el 30 % a Ucrania, el 28 % a la Unión Europea (UE) y el 17 % a Estados Unidos. El portal de investigación VSquare aseguró en marzo, en base a fuentes de seguridad nacional europeas, que Moscú envió un equipo a Budapest para interferir en las elecciones.
Este equipo estaría “en contacto activo con los operativos de la campaña relacionados con el gobierno de Orbán”, afirmó el portal. Además, dijo que la prensa cercana al Gobierno publica narrativas “alineadas con el Kremlin”.
Mientras tanto, el prestigioso instituto Political Capital asegura que “se está llevando a cabo una campaña de desinformación, que según todos los indicios tiene origen ruso” sobre supuestas injerencias ucranianas en la campaña electoral.
Leé también: Una protesta en una cárcel de presos políticos extranjeros en Venezuela fue reprimida y hay heridos
El Gobierno, por su parte, afirma que es Ucrania la que quiere interferir en las elecciones. Kiev, afirma Orbán, bloquea el envío de crudo ruso a Hungría a través de su territorio para debilitar a su Gobierno, para lo que cuenta con el apoyo de “los burócratas de Bruselas”.
En este punto, el primer ministro contó con el apoyo del vicepresidente de EEUU, JD Vance, que en su visita a Budapest el martes afirmó que “lo que ha sucedido en este país es el peor ejemplo de una intervención extranjera”.
Según Vance, “la intervención de los burócratas de Bruselas es indigna” y se debe a que “no les gusta el líder electo de Hungría”.
Prácticas populistas, amenazas y compra de votos
Por otra parte, un reciente documental independiente emitido por Youtube, titulado El precio del voto, denunció estructuras de poderes locales que presionan a los sectores más vulnerables en el interior del país, donde mucha gente dependen de las prestaciones sociales, para que emitan votos a su favor.
El Fidesz profundizó este sistema, existente desde hace décadas en las regiones más pobres de Hungría, afirma el documental. Así, aplica métodos de compra de votos y otros de intimidación, como la amenaza de pérdida de prestaciones sociales o de empleo, y hasta el chantaje de quitarles los hijos menores de edad.
Un activista señala en ese documental, producido por asociaciones civiles y periodistas independientes, que esta red en caso extremo podría llegar hasta a medio millón de votantes, en un país con poco más de 8 millones de ciudadanos con derecho a voto.
Temor a una postergación de las elecciones
La encuesta de Publicus asegura por otra parte que el 88 % de los votantes dice que en la recta final de la campaña ya no sucederá nada que le haría cambiar sus preferencias.
Eso sí, el 66 % de los encuestados dice que el gobernante partido Fidesz sería capaz de cometer fraude electoral, mientras que en el caso del Tisza la proporción es sólo del 15 %.
En los últimos meses los críticos de Orbán temían que en vista de los malos datos en las encuestas y de la gran popularidad de su rival, el Fidesz podría posponer las elecciones.
Pese a que el Gobierno asegura que las elecciones se realizarán de acuerdo al orden legal, el 55 % de los húngaros no excluye que los comicios se pospondrán hasta el último momento, aludiendo a alguna situación de excepción.
(Con información de EFE)
hungria, Viktor Orban
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