In 2020, Idaho passed House Bill 500, the nation’s first ban on transgender athletes (specifically women) competing in sports. Since then, dozens of states have followed in Idaho's footsteps.
Then the ACLU of Idaho brought Lindsay Hecox’s case against the state, saying the Boise State University student and athlete was being discriminated against for her transgender identity. The case was on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court — until she withdrew the lawsuit a couple weeks ago. Boise State Public Radio reporter Jimmy Dawson joined City Cast Boise to talk about why, and what’s next.
What were the key arguments that Hecox and her legal team made when they were challenging this law?
“Essentially that gender identity is a protected class under Title IX and federal law, and this is discrimination based on sex. And this is something that has been ongoing in the courts for several years related to transgender rights. Pretty quickly, she filed this lawsuit with the help of several groups like the ACLU … [House Bill 500] has just had this injunction in place as the case has gone on.”
Lindsay [Hecox] said harassment led her to withdraw her lawsuit. What kind of impact do you think being the face of a lawsuit like this has?
“ I think it's massive. Lindsay did an interview, I believe with ESPN, maybe Sports Illustrated, like all of these national magazines when the lawsuit first came out. And obviously you're going to get some people agreeing with you and some people opposing you, right? You become a national figure. And if you're not ready for that backlash, then it's going to be pretty tough going forward. Her quote is: ‘thus after deep consideration and despite the positive role that women's team sports have played in my life, including at BSU, I've made the extremely difficult decision to cease playing women's sports in any context covered by HB 500 and want to dismiss my case … living a healthy and safe life is a priority of mine.’”
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a very similar case out of West Virginia. What are the stakes there?
“[The court is] trying to determine whether or not the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment applies to the state having a right to separate boys and girls sports based on biological sex. So depending on what kind of opinion might come down in this case, if it's a very declarative one, then it will apply across the country, including Idaho.”
