BOISE, Idaho – The State of Idaho wants the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a law that bans transgender athletes from competing in sports based on their gender identity.
Idaho passed the 2020 Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, but appeals courts have ruled that the ban is unconstitutional.
It was the first state to do so.
A panel of judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2023 that the law discriminates not just against transgender women, but all women because of a requirement to verify gender through gynecological exams.
The court said the law “perpetuates historic discrimination against both cisgender and transgender women by categorically excluding transgender women from athletic competition and subjecting all women to an invasive sex dispute verification process.”
West Virginia passed a similar ban and that state also filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to examine the case.
In its petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, Idaho says the intent of the law was to “ensure(s) that women and girls do not have to compete against men and boys no matter how those men and boys identify.”
The petition accuses the Ninth Circuit panel of breaking legal precedence and “biological reality.”
“Allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports creates a dangerous, unfair environment for women to showcase their incredible talent and access critical scholarships, wrote Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador in a news release announcing the petition. “We are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Idaho’s law and ensure that women and girls get the athletic opportunities they deserve.”
The ACLU represents transgender athletes in Idaho and called the initial Ninth Circuit ruling “an important victory for common sense, equality, and the rights of transgender youth under the law.”
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