BOISE, Idaho — A college student at Boise State University who was born male but identifies as female has filed suit to challenge a new Idaho law prohibiting biological males from competing on girls’ sports teams.
The 19-year-old student, who goes by the name Lindsay Hecox, ran track and cross-country in high school and now wants to be a part of the Boise State track and cross-country teams.
“Running on a men’s team is not an option for Lindsay. She is not a man, and as a woman who is transgender, it would be painful and humiliating to be forced to be the only woman on a men’s team,” the lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Idaho, reads.
“It would also be contrary to her medical treatment plan for her gender dysphoria, which requires that she live her life in all respects as the woman she is,” it states.
Hecox is currently undergoing testosterone suppression and is taking estrogen, which the ACLU asserts “decreases [his] muscle mass and size.”
Read the lawsuit in full here.
In February, Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, proposed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” House Bill 500, which expressly prohibits biological males from joining women’s athletic teams.
“Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex,” the legislation reads in part.
It states that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones do not resolve concerns about fairness, pointing to a 2019 study that concluded that males who ingested the hormones over a 12-month period still “had an absolute advantage” over their female competitors.
The measure passed both Houses along party lines in March and was signed into law by Gov. Brad Little. The ACLU decried the measure as being “hateful.”
However, others believe that allowing those who were born male to join female sports’ teams defeats the purpose of having girls-only sports.
As previously reported, three female track athletes in Connecticut filed suit in February to challenge an Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) policy allowing “transgender student athletes with equal opportunities to participate in CIAC athletic programs consistent with their gender identity.”
One of the complainants, Selina Soule, who attends Bloomfield High School, wasn’t able to qualify for the 55-meter race at the regionals because two biological boys took two of the top spots. She came in eighth.
“When I’m at the start of the race, when I’m lining up and getting into my blocks, everyone already knows the outcome. Those two athletes are going to come up one and two, and everyone knows it,” she told the Daily Signal.
“From third on, it’s a little different, we’re actually fighting for those spots [among the girls], but in those meets, there’s no way that one of us biological girls will be able to outrun those transgender athletes.”
The lawsuit contends that the two students, who go by the names Andraya Yearwood and Terry Miller, will deprive them of their achievements and opportunities for collegiate advancement by making it impossible for them to win.
“In fact, Andraya Yearwood is currently ranked 7th in the entire nation in the high school girls’ 55m dash,” the legal challenge states. “[I]f Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood are permitted to compete in the girls’ 55m event, it is likely that one or both of these males will deprive Chelsea and Selina of a victory position she has earned in the State Open Championship.”
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a Statement of Interest in the case, noting that Congress defined “sex” as biological when it passed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and that its sponsor (then-Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind.) even noted that the law would “permit differential treatment by sex … in sports facilities.”
“Accordingly, those regulations provide that a recipient of federal funds does not violate Title IX when it ‘operate[s] or sponsor[s] separate teams for members of each sex where selection for such teams is based upon competitive skill or the activity involved is a contact sport,’” it explained. “And the regulations expressly require ‘[a] recipient which operates or sponsors interscholastic, intercollegiate, club or intramural athletics [to] provide equal opportunity for members of both sexes.’”
“CIAC nevertheless has decided to force biological girls to compete against biological boys who publicly identify with the female gender and want to compete on sex-specific athletic teams,” the DoJ lamented. “Accordingly, CIAC’s transgender athletic policy is in tension with the core purpose of Title IX and its implementing regulations.”
Read the document in full here, as submitted by Attorney General Bill Barr, attorney Matthew Donnelly and others.
HOPE
As previously reported, Christians believe that transgenderism isn’t just a medical or mental condition but primarily a spiritual issue — one that stems from the same predicament all men everywhere face without Christ.
The Bible teaches that all are born with the Adamic sin nature, having various inherent feelings and inclinations that are contrary to the law of God, and being utterly incapable of changing by themselves.
It is why Jesus came: to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Scripture outlines that Jesus came to be the propitiation for men’s sins (1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10), a doctrine in Christianity known as substitutionary atonement, and to save men from the wrath of God for their violations against His law (Romans 4:25, Romans 5:9, Romans 5:16), a doctrine known as justification.
The Bible also teaches about regeneration, as in addition to sparing guilty men from eternal punishment, Christ sent his Holy Spirit to make those who would repent and believe the gospel new creatures in the here and now, with new desires and an ability to do what is pleasing in the sight of God by His indwelling and empowerment (Ezekiel 11:19, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5).
1 Corinthians 15:45 states, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam (Jesus) became a life-giving spirit.”
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