Trump Administration Defends Idaho’s Transgender Athletics Legislation

Jun 26, 2020

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Earlier this month, dozens of groups and hundreds of athletes urged the NCAA to pull tournament events out of Idaho in response to the legislature’s passage of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which bans transgender females from competing in women’s sports. Gov. Brad Little signed the ban into law on March 30th.

Boise is scheduled to host the second and third-round games for the NCAA's 2021 men's basketball tournament. Heath Druzin of Boise State Public Radio reported last week that the tournament event generated $15 million in economic activity in 2018. The NCAA is scheduled to take up the matter in August. 
 
Last Friday, the law received backing from the administration of President Donald Trump. Attorney General William Barr said in a news release that, “Allowing biological males to compete in all-female sports is fundamentally unfair to female athletes.” The statement came after the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in Idaho federal court defending Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act against a challenge under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
 
The release coincided with a 16-page court filing — co-authored by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Idaho U.S. attorney’s office — urging a federal judge to uphold Idaho’s first-in-the-nation transgender athletics law on the basis that it is not in violation of the constitution.
 
News Sources:

Trump administration backs Idaho transgender sports ban
 
The Department of Justice Files Statement of Interest Defending the Constitutionality of Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act
 
http://idahoednews-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Statement-of-Interest-6.19.20.pdf

NCAA responds to call to move 2021 NCAA Tournament games out of Idaho due to transgender sports law

Idaho Anti-Transgender Law Puts Millions Of Dollars In Sports Revenue At Stake
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