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Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and the rest of the legal defense that wants to “save women’s sports” have been guaranteed a chance to present their oral arguments to the US Supreme Court after a trans athlete tried to have a potential landmark case dismissed.
The Supreme Court ordered Monday that it would delay ruling on the trans athlete’s bid to have the case dismissed until after oral arguments.
A federal judge denied the trans athlete’s motion last week, but the Supreme Court’s ruling would definitively determine whether or not the case went forward. Now, at the very least, the case will move on to oral arguments, which will likely take place in January.
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Trans athlete Lindsay Hecox started the legal battle in 2020. That year, Hecox wanted to join the women’s cross country team at Boise State, and had the state’s law barring trans athletes from competing in women’s sports blocked. Hecox was joined by an anonymous female biology student, Jane Doe, who was concerned about the potential of being exposed to the verification process for the sex dispute.
Hecox’s challenge was successful when a federal judge blocked Idaho’s state law. Then a 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld an injunction blocking the state law through 2023 before the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case back in July. The Supreme Court also agreed to hear a similar case in West Virginia involving a trans athlete, West Virginia v. BPJ
Hecox asked SCOTUS last month to drop the challenge, arguing that the athlete “has therefore decided to permanently retire and refrain from playing women’s sports at BSU or in Idaho.”
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Hecox’s attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Cooley, LLP and Legal Voice provided a statement to Pakinomist Digital.
“Lindsay ended her participation in all women’s athletic programs covered by HB 500 to prioritize finishing her degree at Boise State and her personal safety and well-being. Lindsay withdrew her challenge to Idaho’s HB 500 and it remains unchanged. In West Virginia v. BPJ, the US Supreme Court will continue to challenge a right to an identical advoc. of all women and girls, including transgender women and girls. We look forward to making oral submissions in accordance with the Court’s order,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, Labrador has previously said he hopes the Supreme Court makes a decision with a broader impact than simply letting a state carry out its own specific law on the issue. He wants a new national precedent.
“I believe that’s what they’re going to do,” Labrador previously told Pakinomist Digital in an exclusive interview. “I think they will have a big ruling on whether men can participate in women’s sports, and more importantly, how to decide whether transgender individuals are protected by the federal constitution and state and federal laws.”
