Rapid Response Webinar

What Could the Supreme Court's Transgender Athlete Ruling Mean for Schools and Sports?

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., upholding state laws restricting transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's school sports. What does the decision mean for Title IX, schools, students, and equal protection law?

To help make sense of the decision, Seattle University School of Law will host its 4th Annual Rapid Response Livestream Event, bringing together leading legal scholars and practitioners for timely analysis shortly after the Court releases its opinion.

The discussion will be streamed live on YouTube and is open to all.

Our panel will examine:

The Court's reasoning and legal analysis
The implications for schools, athletic organizations, and government entities
Broader constitutional and policy considerations

The livestream will take place on July 1, 2026, giving you an opportunity to hear expert perspectives while the ruling is still making headlines.

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Panelists

Speakers are tentative and subject to change.

Evan Wolfson

Founder, Freedom to Marry

Evan Wolfson founded Freedom to Marry and led the campaign that won marriage equality nationwide in 2015. An internationally recognized civil rights lawyer and strategist, he is widely considered the architect of the modern marriage equality movement.

Shannon Minter

Vice President of Legal, National Center for LGBTQ Rights

Shannon Minter is Legal Director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights and has spent more than 30 years leading impact litigation and public policy efforts on behalf of LGBTQ people and their families. He served as counsel in landmark marriage equality cases, including Obergefell v. Hodges, and is widely recognized as a national expert on transgender law.

Sarah Warbelow

Senior Vice President, Law, Policy, and Research, Out & Equal

Sarah Warbelow is Senior Vice President for Law, Policy, and Research at Out & Equal and a nationally recognized expert on LGBTQ civil rights law and workplace equality. Previously Vice President, Legal at the Human Rights Campaign, she now advises business leaders, policymakers, and advocacy organizations and teaches civil rights law and public policy at George Washington University and George Mason University.

Michael C. Dorf

Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law, Cornell Law School

Michael C. Dorf is the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law at Cornell Law School and one of the nation's leading constitutional law scholars. A former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, he is the author of numerous books and more than 100 scholarly articles on constitutional law and the courts.

Jennifer L. Levi

Senior Director of Queer and Transgender Rights, GLAD Law

Jennifer Levi is Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights at GLAD Law and a nationally recognized expert on transgender legal issues. For more than 25 years, she has led precedent-setting litigation and policy efforts advancing LGBTQ+ rights, including challenges involving military service, healthcare, education, and equal protection under the law.

Brian Sutherland

Partner, Beal Sutherland Berlin & Brown

Brian J. Sutherland '06 is a nationally recognized civil rights attorney, partner at Beal, Sutherland, Berlin & Brown, LLC, and a summa cum laude graduate of Seattle University School of Law. He served as lead counsel in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, securing nationwide protections against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Jessica Clarke

Robert C. and Nanette T. Packard Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law

Jessica Clarke is the Robert C. and Nanette T. Packard Professor of Law at USC Gould School of Law and an expert on constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, and LGBTQ+ rights. Her award-winning scholarship on sex discrimination, gender identity, and equality has influenced legal scholarship and public policy nationwide.

Chan Tov McNamarah

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, Cornell Law School

Chan Tov McNamarah is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Cornell Law School whose research focuses on constitutional law, anti-discrimination law, and the legal regulation of equality. Their scholarship examines legal arguments affecting LGBTQ+ rights and has been published in the Columbia Law Review, California Law Review, and Cornell Law Review.

Darren Lenard Hutchinson

Professor of Law, Emory University School of Law

Darren Lenard Hutchinson is the John Lewis Chair for Civil Rights and Social Justice at Emory University School of Law and a nationally recognized scholar of constitutional law, civil rights, and critical race theory. A leading voice on equality and discrimination, his work explores the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, and the law.

Noa Ben-Asher

Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship & Professor of Law, St. John's University School of Law

Noa Ben-Asher is Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship at St. John's University School of Law, where they teach family law, gender, sexuality, and legal theory. Their scholarship focuses on gender, sexuality, constitutional law, and equality and has been published in leading law journals.

Christopher Green

Professor, Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, The Ohio State University

Christopher R. Green is a professor at The Ohio State University’s Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society and a leading constitutional law scholar. His research focuses on the Fourteenth Amendment and constitutional theory, and his work has been cited in opinions by U.S. Supreme Court justices.

Nazune Menka

Assistant Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Northwest Center for Indigenous Law

Nazune Menka is Assistant Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Northwest Center for Indigenous Law at Seattle University School of Law. A Denaakk'e (Koyukon Athabaskan) and Lumbee scholar, her teaching and research focus on Indigenous Peoples, constitutional law, environmental law, and advancing the self-determination of Native Nations.

Moderators

Andrew Siegel

Supreme Court Initiative Faculty Director and Professor of Law

Andrew Siegel is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Supreme Court Initiative at Seattle University School of Law and a nationally recognized expert on the U.S. Supreme Court. A former law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens, he writes and lectures extensively on constitutional law, constitutional theory, and American legal history.

Kelli Rodriguez

Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of Sports Law Program

Kelli Rodriguez is Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Director of the Sports Law Program at Seattle University School of Law, where she teaches sports law and oversees the Flex JD and Master of Legal Studies programs. Her research focuses on student-athlete rights, NCAA compliance, Title IX, and legal issues affecting collegiate athletics.

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