The court’s liberal justices agreed with their conservative colleagues that Title IX doesn’t give transgender athletes the right to compete on teams corresponding to their gender identity. But they said the constitutional question was more complex and required closer examination by lower courts into the impact of trans athletes in particular sports and at particular ages.

Idaho and West Virginia argued that their laws are meant to protect athletes assigned female at birth from physical harm due to biological differences between men and women. They also argue that Title IX applies to “biological sex” and that their laws do not discriminate against transgender women and girls.

“This began in West Virginia, but its impact reaches every corner of the country,” said West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who oversaw the case when he was state attorney general. “Future generations of female athletes will benefit from the certainty, fairness, and opportunity this decision protects.”

Neither state law has been in effect as the cases worked their way through the courts over the past five years. But more than two dozen states have similar laws on the books.

The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee have barred trans athletes from competing in women’s sports. And the NCAA, which oversees college sports, already barred transgender athletes from women’s sports in response to an executive order President Donald Trump signed shortly after returning to the White House.