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FIRST ON FOX: The legal advocacy to “save women’s sports” scored a big victory in its Supreme Court battle over transgender athletes this week.
After a trans athlete from Idaho attempted to have the potential landmark SCOTUS case dismissed, a federal judge overturned the attempt to dismiss it and ruled 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 began the legal battle in 2020, but tried to have it dismissed in September after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in July.
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Now Nye has denied Hecox’s request.
Nye emphasized that after years of litigation, “[Idaho] has a just right to have his arguments heard and judged once and for all.” And that, “[T]”The Court finds that Hecox’s argument is, as mentioned above, somewhat manipulative to avoid Supreme Court review and should not be supported.”
The Little v. Hecox was initially introduced by Hecox in 2020, when the trans athlete wanted to join the women’s cross-country team at Boise State and was blocked by a state law preventing trans athletes from competing in women’s sports.
Hecox was joined by an unnamed biological student, Jane Doe, who was concerned about the possibility of being subjected to the sexual dispute verification 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 a court order 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, claiming the athlete “has therefore decided to permanently retire and refrain from playing any women’s sport at BSU or in Idaho.”
The defense team, led by Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Kristen Wagoner, rejected Hecox’s attempt to end the battle before it reaches the Supreme Court, arguing that the dismissal violated the agreed-upon stay.
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Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador speaks in front of the Supreme Court on April 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“From day one in office, upholding this law has been a top priority because Idaho’s daughters deserve fair competition based on biological reality. The district court has ruled that after years of litigation, Idaho has earned the right to bring our case before the highest court in the country. This decision keeps our lawsuit alive, and I will not stop until women and girls are safe to compete, participate and excel in sports competitive,” Labrador told Pak Gazette Digital about Nye’s decision.
Hecox’s efforts to have the case dropped are not completely over, as SCOTUS has yet to rule on whether the case is moot. But Labrador and his team believe Nye’s ruling is a “good sign” for their team.
Ultimately, the defense in this case seeks a broader outcome than simply whether Hecox can play women’s sports. Labrador told Pak Gazette Digital that she is asking the court to protect states’ rights to protect women’s sports.
Labrador previously said he hopes the Supreme Court makes a decision with a broader impact than simply allowing a state to apply its own specific law on the issue. He wants a new national precedent. “I think that’s what they’re going to do,” Labrador previously told Pak Gazette Digital in an exclusive interview.
“I think they’re going to make an important decision about whether men can participate 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 curiae 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 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 track and cross-country teams. Last year, Pepper-Jackson qualified for the West Virginia girls high school state track meet, finishing third in the discus throw and eighth in the shot put in the Class AAA division.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of Pepper-Jackson, who has been taking puberty-blocking medications, in an April 2024 ruling based on the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
