The state restrictions come just days after the Supreme Court declined to take up a challenge to a lower court ruling in favor of Gavin Grimm, a transgender man who sued his school district over its bathroom policy. The move was seen as a major victory for transgender students that could ricochet across the lower courts, where lawsuits against restrictions on athletes are moving up the system... Mississippi, Montana, Florida, West Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama all signed transgender athlete restrictions this year. Many of them advanced their laws blaming President Joe Biden’s January executive order that aimed to promote inclusion for transgender people. The White House made the change, arguing a Supreme Court ruling on LGBTQ rights in the workplace extends to a federal education law that prohibits discrimination based on sex. The Supreme Court has now punted on transgender bathroom cases twice since the landmark Bostock v. Clayton County ruling last summer — the decision Biden is leaning on. And two other circuits have issued rulings similar to the 4th Circuit, saying it is unconstitutional to bar transgender students from using the bathrooms that align with their gender identities. That means Grimm’s two victories in the 4th Circuit will likely hold for the foreseeable future. But a patchwork of courts will now decide whether these circuit court precedents hold any bearing on transgender athletes cases just as students start trying out for fall sports.