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Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador has been working on a case that could determine the future of women’s sports in America.
Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Little vs. Hecox, which began in 2020, when Idaho became a precursor to states with laws prohibiting trans athletes in women’s and girls’ sports. A trans athlete in Boise State, Lindsay Hecox, defendant the state to compete at the university’s cross -country skiing team.
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Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador speaks outside the Supreme Court on April 24, 2024 in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The US District Law of the District of Idaho awarded a preliminary injunction that blocked the law from being enforced because it found that the applicants were likely to succeed in proving the law constitutionally. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals maintained the order, but now the Supreme Court will have an opportunity to intervene.
However, Labrador hopes in the Supreme Court to make a decision with a broader influence than just let a state implement its own specific law on the issue. He wants a new national precedent. “I think that’s what they have to do,” Labrador told Pakinomist Digital in an exclusive interview.
“I think they will have a great decision on whether men can participate in women’s sports, and more importantly how to decide whether trans -bright individuals are protected by the federal constitutions and state and federal laws.”
AG shared what he intends to this lawyer to argue.
“The most important thing [argument] Is that the 14th amendment does not prevent a state from protecting its girls when it comes to participating in sports and that there is no special classification that allows boys to participate in girls’ sports, ”he said.
Labrador’s first exposure to the little one vs. HECOX case was when it was filed by 2020, three years before he was Idaho’s court lawyer. He worked as a legal adviser to the state in dealing with the case at the time and thought it was a matter of “common sense.”
However, Labrador also said he witnessed how the question had not been fully understood by ordinary society. He blames the “scientific community.”
“For a while, society wasn’t quite sure how to deal with it,” Labrador said.
“Somehow, the scientific community began to find these scientific evidence that there was no difference between a boy changing to a girl and a girl who was born a biological girl. And we just knew it was ridiculous and that it was, it flew in the light of common sense, and I believe now science, and I think the debate has turned to a point where people realize they can talk freely about these problems.”
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Two years before Labrador took over as the state of the state, two college students connected to the accused’s list.
Former Idaho State University Women’s Athletes Madison Kenyon and Mary Kate Marshall joined the trial in 2021 as willing defendant after having to compete against a man during their college career.
“My coach sat down in the room and told us we would compete against a male athlete at a specific meeting and just tell us. And I remember sitting there and kind of like when we looked around the room that was like, ‘Well, what do my teammates think about this? What do we do?'” Kenyon told Pakinomist Digital.
“So for us it wasn’t a question of whether to compete or not. I want to put everything out there as I have and see what’s happening. And sure enough, this male athlete beat me, beat all my teammates and it went on to happen all season. So it was when I said,” This is not fair. ”
Kenyon added that she felt the situation was “swept under the rug” when it first happened.
“I think many people saw that this was obviously not fair and that this will not last. And that would be a problem and they did not act on it.”
Kenyon said she was then inspired to participate in the trial from a task in her voice class in Idaho State, where she wrote a talk about a piece of legislation she would support.
For Labrador, support from young Idaho women was “extremely important” and expensive for women because of the joint treatment of people standing up and talking about the question of the opposite side.
“Society wasn’t kind of them, the local media were not kind to them, they got a lot of peer pressed to cave about this question, they were called all kinds of names, ‘bigoted’ and other things,” Labrador said.
Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador speaks outside the Supreme Court on April 24, 2024 in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Labrador said he saw the same treatment hit the other families in his state affected when a trans athlete competed against their daughters in the high school competition.
“The media is trying to be ashamed of these families in silence, and many times these families come out and speak, but many times they just feel afraid to express their opinions because of what the media does with them.” Said Labrador.
Now, after years of widespread societal development on the issue and political momentum from President Donald Trump and GOP’s unanimous attitude to the issue, a new federal precedent could come into force as early as next year.
