U.S. District Court Grants Injunction Against Idaho Anti-Transgender Law

U.S. District Judge David Nye noted Idaho's HB500 law sought to "[exclude] transgender women and girls from women’s sports entirely."

U.S. District Judge David Nye granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of Idaho’s HB500 law on Monday.

HB500 was passed in March by the Idaho state legislature. The law allowed girls and women in youth and high school sports to be challenged on the basis of their biological sex. This effectively banned transgender girls and women from competing in Idaho sports consistent with their gender identity.  

Lindsay Hecox, 19, filed a lawsuit alongside the ACLU and a Jane Doe in April to challenge the HB500 law. Monday's ruling will suspend the law while litigation is pending, per the Human Rights Campaign. 

"While the citizens of Idaho are likely to either vehemently oppose, or fervently support, the Act, the Constitution must always prevail," Nye wrote in Monday's decision. "In making this determination, it is not just the constitutional rights of transgender girls and women athletes at issue but, as explained above, the constitutional rights of every girl and woman athlete in Idaho."

"Because the Court finds Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in establishing the Act is unconstitutional as currently written, it must issue a preliminary injunction at this time pending trial on the merits."

Hecox has emerged as an activist for transgender rights in Idaho and across the country in recent months, often appearing at the Idaho statehouse for rallies, testimony and other community organizing, per Sports Illustrated's Julie Kliegman. 

"It’s not about taking spots away from girls," Hecox told Kliegman in June. "It's not about being at an advantage. It's not about beating other schools easier. I literally just love the sport and I don't care if I'm in last place or first place."

Hecox is slated to be a member of Boise State's women's cross-country team this fall. Idaho's HB500 law will be at odds with the NCAA's policy on transgender athletes if enforced.