Little v. Hecox | 01/13/26 | Docket #: 24-38
24-38 LITTLE, GOVERNOR OF IDAHO V. HECOX
DECISION BELOW: 104 F.4th 1061
ORDER OF OCTOBER 20, 2025:
RESPONDENT'S REQUEST THAT THE COURT DISMISS THE CASE AS MOOT IS DEFERRED PENDING
ORAL ARGUMENT. SEE
ACHESON HOTELS, LLC v. LAUFER
, 601 U. S. 1, 4 (2023).
CERT. GRANTED 7/3/2025
QUESTION PRESENTED:
Women and girls have overcome decades of discrimination to achieve a more
equal playing field in many arenas of American life-including sports. Yet in some
competitions, female athletes have become bystanders in their own sports as male
athletes who identify as female have taken the place of their female competitors-on the
field and on the winners' podium.
The Idaho Legislature addressed that injustice by enacting the Fairness in
Women's Sports Act, which ensures that women and girls do not have to compete
against men and boys no matter how those men and boys identify. The Act-one of 25
such state laws around the country-is consistent with longstanding government policies
preserving women's and girls' sports due to the "average real differences" between the
sexes.
Clark ex rel. Clark v. Ariz. Interscholastic Ass'n,
695 F.2d 1126, 1131 (9th Cir.
1982).
Breaking with this Court's precedents, its own caselaw, other circuit decisions,
and biological reality, the Ninth Circuit panel here upheld an injunction against the Act
because it prevents "transgender women and girls"-meaning males who identify as
women and girls-from competing in "women's student athletics." App.4a-5a.
The question presented is:
Whether laws that seek to protect women's and girls' sports by limiting
participation to women and girls based on sex violate the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment.
LOWER COURT CASE NUMBER: 20-35813, 20-35815
