Legal motion seeks to stop transgender ban
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK)-The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho has filed a motion for preliminary injunction in federal court in the case of Hecox versus Little.
The legal action challenges Idaho's recently passed law banning women and girls who are transgender and many who are intersex from participating in school sports. The law also subjects all female athletes to the possibility of invasive genital and genetic screenings.
The motion asks the federal court to block implementation of the law by early August, when athletic tryouts for the fall season at Boise State University and Boise High School begin. The law is scheduled to take effect July 1.
The ACLU says the motion is based on its belief that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
"My life is not centered around being transgender; while it is an important part of my identity, it does not define me nor is it something I want to think about every day," said transgender Boise State University student Lindsay Hecox. . However, in this case I will be proudly trans because this attack on trans people is too important to ignore," says Lindsay Hecox, a student at Boise State University who is transgender and a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Hecox is training to join Boise State's cross country team this fall and its track team in spring 2021.
ACLU of Idaho Legal Director Ritchie Eppink said, "We are asking the federal court to stop this unconstitutional law before it ever harms Idaho students." An injunction would maintain the NCAA and Idaho High School Activities Association rules.
"During the legislative session, the community expressed alarm about how girls - and only girls, not boys - would be required to submit to sex verification. It's important the court prevent such intrusive testing from beginning," says Chelsea Gaona-Lincoln, Litigation Support Coordinator for Legal Voice.
Idaho is the first state to impose an outright ban on participation of transgender athletes and the only state in the country with a law regulating transgender and intersex athletes.
You can see the motion here.
And the legal brief here.
The lawsuit challenging HB 500 was filed in federal district court by the ACLU of Idaho, Legal Voice, National ACLU and Cooley LLP. It was filed on behalf of Lindsay Hecox and Jane Doe, a junior at Boise High School.
