NBC Says Sorry for Using the Supreme Court’s Own Words

After the Supreme Court used the words “biological male” and “biological female” in a landmark ruling on transgender athletes, NBC News apologized to viewers for repeating those exact words in its own report.

Quick Take

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that states can ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports — and the majority opinion used the terms “biological male” and “biological female.”
NBC News used the Court’s own language in its coverage, then issued an on-air apology for doing so.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that separate sports teams for biological males and females are reasonable given physical differences between the sexes.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, arguing the majority applied the wrong legal standard and ignored disputed medical evidence on hormone therapy.

The Supreme Court’s Ruling and What It Said

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 30, 2026, that states can ban transgender women and girls from competing in female sports. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion. He stated that “separate sports teams for biological males and females are reasonable given the inherent physical differences” between the sexes. The ruling said these bans do not violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause or Title IX, the 1972 federal law banning sex discrimination in education.

The ruling came from challenges to laws passed in Idaho in 2020 and West Virginia in 2021. The Court’s conservative majority — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett — joined Kavanaugh in the decision. The ruling affects schools across the country and gives states with similar laws a clear legal foundation.

NBC News Apologizes for Using the Court’s Own Words

NBC News correspondent Laura Jarrett reported on the ruling and used the terms “biological male” and “biological female” — words taken directly from the Supreme Court’s majority opinion. After the report aired, NBC News issued an apology to viewers, saying the terms may have been offensive. Critics on both sides quickly took notice. Many conservatives found the apology absurd. If the nation’s highest court used the words, they asked, why should a news network apologize for quoting them?

This episode fits a broader pattern in media. When news outlets use terms tied to gender identity — even when quoting official legal documents — they often face swift backlash from advocacy groups. NBC News appeared to respond to that pressure rather than stand behind the legal source of the language. That choice raised a simple but important question: Should a news organization apologize for accurately reporting what the Supreme Court said?

The Dissent and the Ongoing Debate

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan, dissented. Sotomayor argued the majority applied the wrong legal standard. She also said the Court failed to properly weigh disputed medical evidence about how hormone therapy affects athletic performance. The Court itself acknowledged in its opinion that the science on transgender athletes remains unsettled.

TRIGGER WARNING: NBC News Grovels to Viewers for Using Terms 'Biological Male' and 'Biological Female' in Report About SCOTUS Ruling on Trans Athletes (VIDEO) https://t.co/bSfWiJcagO #gatewaypundit via @gatewaypundit

— Lady Lisa 🇺🇸 🇮🇱 🇮🇷 (@littleladysage2) July 1, 2026

That scientific uncertainty matters. A peer-reviewed review published by the National Institutes of Health found that most sports policies excluding transgender athletes go beyond what the current evidence supports. Yet the Court ruled that states have a valid interest in protecting competitive fairness — even while the science is still being debated. The ruling now applies broadly, with more than two dozen states having passed similar bans. Whether you see this as protecting women’s sports or excluding vulnerable kids, one thing is hard to argue: the media’s reaction to its own accurate reporting says a lot about how much pressure newsrooms face to manage language rather than just report the facts.