Transgender athlete issues won’t go away anytime soon
Politically, the issue of trans athletes is driving Republicans. The Democrats still think about where they stand.
WASHINGTON – Students in the heart of the famous Supreme Court challenge themselves to ban trans athletes on women’s sports teams.
Boise State senior Lindsay Hecox told the court she fears she will be harassed and struggle to graduate if she continues to challenge.
“From the beginning of this case, I have been undergoing negative public scrutiny since certain quarters,” Hecox said he requested the court on September 2. “I have also observed an increase in intolerance in general for people who are transgender, especially trans women who participate in sports.”
More than half of the state say they are trying to prevent competitive advantage by passing laws that prevent trans athletes from competing in women’s school sports teams. The law does not take into account someone’s athletic ability or distance they transition to another gender.
President Donald Trump, who campaigned on the issue, moved to cut off federal funding from schools that allowed trans athletes to compete with other athletes who suit their gender identity.
The lower courts sided with both Hecox and West Virginia transgender teens who challenged her state’s ban.
Idaho and West Virginia appealed these decisions to the Supreme Court.
The court now has to decide whether to only hear about the West Virginia dispute.
Idaho lawyers told the court their cases should continue.
But Hecox, who played for BSU’s ladies’ club soccer team, said there’s no more to be considered by the Supreme Court as he retracted the challenge to the Idaho ban and made a “very difficult decision” to stop participating in women’s sports.
“While it’s important for Hecox to play women’s sports, her top priority is graduating from university and living a healthy and safe life,” her lawyer said in a filing.
The court should abandon her favorable ruling from San Francisco-based 9th The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
The appeals court agreed with Hecox that the Idaho ban would likely discriminate against transgender female athletes. The court also said Idaho did not show how the ban promotes a greater opportunity goal for female athletes.
The West Virginia lawsuit raises the same legal issue. Whether the prohibition violates the promise of Article 14’s equal protection clause that everyone will be treated fairly.
The Supreme Court also agreed to consider whether the West Virginia ban violates federal rules against gender-based discrimination in public schools.
The court, which returned to the bench in October, has not set a date for the verbal argument.
