WASHINGTON - Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared ready on Tuesday to uphold state laws banning transgender athletes from female sports teams amid escalating efforts nationwide to restrict the rights of transgender people.The justices heard more than three hours of arguments in appeals by Idaho and West Virginia of decisions by lower courts siding with transgender students who challenged the bans in the two states as violating the U.S. Constitution and a federal anti-discrimination law. Twenty-five other states have similar laws on the books.The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 …READ FULL ARTICLE