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FIRST ON FOX: The legal defense to “save women’s sports” won a major victory at the Supreme Court this week regarding transgender athletes.
After a trans athlete from Idaho tried to have the potential landmark SCOTUS case thrown out, a federal judge overturned the attempted dismissal and ruled that the case should continue.
U.S. District Judge David Nye, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2017, denied former Boise State trans athlete Lindsay Hecox’s motion to dismiss the case. The trans athlete launched the legal battle in 2020, but tried to have it thrown out in September after the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case.
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Nye has now rejected Hecox’s request.
Nye emphasized that after years of litigation, “[Idaho] has a fair right to have his arguments heard and judged once and for all.” And that, “[T]The Court finds that Hecox’s mootness argument is, as above, somewhat manipulative to avoid Supreme Court review and should not be approved.
The Little v. Hecox lawsuit was originally filed by Hecox in 2020, when the trans athlete wanted to join the Boise State women’s cross country team, and blocked state law banning trans athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Hecox was joined by an anonymous biological student, Jane Doe, who was concerned about the risk of being subjected to the gender dispute screening process. The challenge was successful as a federal judge blocked the Idaho state law.
A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction blocking the state law in 2023, before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in July. Hecox then asked SCOTUS last month to drop the challenge, saying the athlete “has therefore decided to permanently withdraw and refrain from playing women’s sports at BSU or Idaho.”
The defense team, led by Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Kristen Wagoner, rebuffed Hecox’s attempt to end the fight before it reached the Supreme Court, arguing that the dismissal violated the agreed-upon stay.
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Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador speaks before the Supreme Court on April 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“Since my first day in office, defending this law has been a top priority because Idaho girls deserve fair competition based on biological reality. The district court ruled that after years of litigation, Idaho has earned the right to present our case to the nation’s highest court. This decision keeps our lawsuit alive, and I will not stop until women and girls are safe to compete, participate and excel in competitive sports,” Labrador told PK Press Club Digital of Nye’s decision.
Hecox’s efforts to have the case dismissed are not completely over, as SCOTUS still has to decide whether the case is moot. But Labrador and his team believe Nye’s decision is a “good sign” for their team.
Ultimately, the defense in this case is seeking a broader outcome than just whether Hecox can play women’s sports. Labrador told PK Press Club Digital he is asking the court to protect states’ rights to protect women’s sports.
Labrador previously said he hoped the Supreme Court would issue a ruling with a broader impact than just letting a state enforce its own specific law on the issue. He wants a new national precedent. “I believe that’s what they’re going to do,” Labrador told PK Press Club Digital in an exclusive interview.
“I think they’re going to have an important decision on whether men can compete in women’s sports and, more importantly, how to determine whether transgender people are protected by the federal constitution and state and federal laws.”
Attorneys general from 27 states and the U.S. territory of Guam have signed amicus briefs to support the defense in the upcoming SCOTUS case.
A trans and SCOTUS flag (Alexander Pohl/NurPhoto via Getty Images | AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The Labrador case is just one of two cases focused on the issue of trans athletes in women’s sports that will be heard by the Supreme Court.
West Virginia, which enacted the “Save Women’s Sports Act” in 2021, is appealing a lower court ruling that allowed transgender athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson to compete on the school’s cross country and track and field teams. Last year, Pepper-Jackson qualified for the West Virginia girls high school track and field meet, finishing third in the discus and eighth in the shot put in the Class AAA division.
The 4th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Pepper-Jackson, who takes puberty-blocking drugs, in an April 2024 decision based on the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution.
