Back in 2020, the state of Idaho passed a law that would prohibit transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams sponsored by public schools, colleges, and universities. But that law has been blocked.
Last week, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a judge’s preliminary injunction blocking the Idaho law, ruling that the transgender sports ban discriminates not just against transgender women but all women.
In the decision, the judges said that the Idaho 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.”
Since Idaho enacted its law back in 2020, more than 20 states have enacted similar laws, all of which have been heavily criticized.
“Idaho’s ban and all others like it are designed to alienate and stigmatize transgender people and we’ll never stop fighting until all transgender youth are given the equal playing field they deserve,” said Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ & HIV Project.
Given the federal judges blocking the Idaho law, it will be interesting to see if the other laws are challenged in courts.
