BOISE, Idaho — The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear an Idaho case that tests the constitutionality of banning transgender athletes from women's and girls' sports.
The case, Little v. Hecox, challenges Idaho House Bill 500, which passed in 2020 and restricts transgender athletes from competing in female school sports. The ALCU of Idaho filed the original lawsuit in April of 2020 on behalf of a transgender track athlete at Boise State.
“We’re suing because HB 500 illegally targets women and girls who are transgender and intersex and subjects all female athletes to the possibility of invasive genital and genetic screenings,” said Gabriel Arkles, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT & HIV Project in a 2020 press release.
Lower courts blocked the law from taking effect in 2023, prompting the state to appeal. Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, along with officials from other states with similar laws, filed supplemental briefs in June urging the Supreme Court to review Idaho's law rather than sending it back to a lower court.
On Thursday, the court agreed to hear the case next term, which begins in October.
"Idaho's women and girls deserve an equal playing field," said Idaho Attorney General Labrador in a press release. "I am thrilled the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear our case.
Idaho Governor Brad Little echoed Labrador's sentiment in a statement on Thursday: "I am very pleased the U.S. Supreme Court is taking up this five-year old case related to legislation I signed into law. I am confident Idaho’s common-sense laws to defend women’s sports will prevail."
Idaho's law is similar to an executive order signed by Trump in February, which prohibits transgender athletes from competing in women's sports. Little was in attendance at the sighting and said in the press release that he was honored to attend.
