Boise State student drops challenge to Idaho trans sports ban ahead of SCOTUS hearing

A Boise State University student has dropped her challenge to Idaho’s transgender sports ban. Now her lawyers don’t want the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case after all. But a similar case out of West Virginia will continue.

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Lindsay Hecox in 2020 sued Idaho Gov. Brad Little and her state’s government after the ban on transgender women participating in female sports barred her from trying out for the university’s track team.

Idaho was the first state in the nation to enact a ban on trans student participation. Hecox’s lawsuit resulted in a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit decision blocking enforcement of the state law. But Hecox said at this point, concerns about her own college education and future outweigh the cost of continuing the case. Her challenge was backed by the ACLU, which provided a statement this week to a CBS affiliate in Idaho.

“After ending her participation in any women’s athletic programs covered by House Bill 500 to prioritize finishing her degree at Boise State and her personal safety and wellness, Lindsay has withdrawn her challenge to Idaho’s HB 500,” the statement reads.

The ACLU noted other cases will tackle the same legal issue. The ACLU will continue its involvement in other litigation that could ultimately determine the constitutionality of trans sports bans. The Supreme Court was set to consider both Idaho’s and West Virginia’s similarly stayed trans sports bans this court term. West Virginia’s Becky Pepper-Jackson will continue her case.

“In West Virginia v. B.P.J., the court will address a challenge to a nearly identical law. We will continue to advocate for the rights of all women and girls, including transgender women and girls,” the statement reads.

Lawyers for Hecox, meanwhile, want her case dismissed before it goes before the Supreme Court. A legal briefing filed with the high court notes personal challenges for Hecox including her father’s recent death and “negative public scrutiny from certain quarters because of this litigation” that have led her to abandon participation in women’s sports teams.

But Idaho Solicitor General Alan Hurst said his office intends to oppose the voluntary dismissal. He asked for the Supreme Court to give his office until Sept. 26 to argue in a brief why the Idaho case should still be heard in oral arguments before justices, according to SCOTUSblog.