Last month I wrote about a trans athlete from Idaho with the unlikely name of Lindsay Hecox. In 2020, Idaho became the first state in the nation to pass a law (The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act) requiring athletes to compete on the team that matched their birth sex. Hecox sued to demand the right to run on the women's team for Boise State University.
Lindsay Hecox, a runner based in Idaho, was set to represent the women’s team at Boise State University.
— VICE TV (UK) (@vicelanduk) September 16, 2020
However, since the local authority passed the controversial Fairness in Women's Sport Act, this is in jeopardy. pic.twitter.com/amJXpPnlDC
Initially, Hecox's case seemed to be a winner.
A district judge found that the state’s law was likely unconstitutional after attorneys argued that it violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection, due process and search and seizure clauses, as well as Title IX, the 1972 law that bars sex discrimination in education.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision with an injunction that prevented the law from taking effect.
So in June of this year, Idaho's AG appealed the case to the Supreme Court. Suddenly, Hecox had a complete change of heart about pursuing the case.
Lindsay Hecox, a senior at Boise State University, told the court she’s afraid she will be harassed and have trouble graduating if she continues the challenge.
“From the beginning of this case, I have come under negative public scrutiny from certain quarters,” Hecox said her Sept. 2 request to the court. “I also have observed increased intolerance generally for people who are transgender and specifically for transgender women who participate in sports.”...
Hecox, who had played for BSU’s women’s club soccer team, said there’s no longer anything for the Supreme Court to consider because she’s withdrawn her challenge to Idaho’s ban and has made the “extremely difficult decision” to stop participating in women’s sports.
“While playing women’s sports is important to Ms. Hecox, her top priority is graduating from college and living a healthy and safe life,” her lawyers said in a filing.
On Tuesday, a federal judge denied Hecox's attempt to have the case rendered moot. The judge noted that the sudden reversal seemed manipulative.
A federal judge in Idaho on Tuesday denied a request from the transgender Boise State University student who asked that the court dismiss her case against Gov. Brad Little over the state’s law banning transgender women and girls from women’s sports. The student, Lindsay Hecox, last month filed a notice to dismiss the lawsuit, which is pending review by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the ruling, U.S. District Judge David Nye said the state has a “fair right to have its arguments heard and adjudicated once and for all” and that dismissing the case would leave “critical questions in limbo.”
“The court feels this mootness argument is, as above, somewhat manipulative to avoid Supreme Court review and should not be endorsed,” Nye wrote in a footnote in the ruling.
The judge is almost certainly correct that what happened here is that the ACLU lawyers realized they were handing the Supreme Court a case which could be used to ratify the Idaho case nationwide. They decided to try to duck that outcome. But it looks like they are too late.
The Supreme Court will still have to rule on this same issue of mootness but attorneys for the state see this week's ruling as a sign they will likely win there too.
The defense team, led by Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Kristen Waggoner pushed back against Hecox’s attempt to end the battle before it reaches the Supreme Court, arguing dismissal violated the agreed-upon stay...
Hecox’s efforts to have the case dropped aren’t completely over, as SCOTUS must still rule on whether the case is moot. But Labrador and his team believe Nye’s ruling is a “good sign” for their side.
AG Labrador thinks the case is going to set up a broad decision from the Supreme Court.
“I think they’re going to have a big ruling on whether men can participate in women’s sports, and more importantly, how to determine whether transgender individuals are protected by the federal constitution and state and federal laws.”
The world has changed since 2020 when this case was filed. It's going to turn out to be a loser for trans activists.
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