Trans athlete drops Supreme Court challenge against Idaho women’s sports law

An Idaho transgender athlete asked the U.S. Supreme Court this week to drop a challenge against a state law that “bars transgender girls and women from playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams,” according to a filing by her attorneys. 

In July, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Little v. Hecox, which began in 2020. A trans athlete at Boise State University, Lindsay Hecox, sued the state to compete on the university’s women’s cross-country team. 

“While playing women’s sports is important to Ms. Hecox, her top priority is graduating from college and living a healthy and safe life,” a filing from her attorneys read. “Ms. Hecox has therefore decided to permanently withdraw and refrain from playing any women’s sports at BSU or in Idaho covered by H.B. 500.”  

“Ms. Hecox has firmly committed not to try out for or participate in any school-sponsored women’s sports covered by H.B. 500,” it added. “Accordingly, on September 2, 2025, Ms. Hecox filed the Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, dismissing her complaint with prejudice.” 

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If the request is approved, the case cannot be refiled. 

In April 2020, Hecox pursued a challenge against H.B. 500 as a freshman at BSU at the time, according to lawyers for the now-24-year-old. 

“Ms. Hecox alleged that she intended to try out for the BSU women’s track and cross-country teams as a rising sophomore, and that H.B. 500 barred her from doing so in violation of her constitutional and statutory rights. Ms. Hecox moved for a preliminary injunction on the basis of her equal protection claim,” the filing said. 

“On August 17, 2020, the district court preliminarily enjoined petitioners from enforcing H.B. 500, concluding that Ms. Hecox was likely to succeed on the merits of her equal protection challenge and that the equitable factors likewise favored preliminary injunctive relief,” it added. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit later affirmed the district court’s preliminary injunction in June 2024, before the case made its way up to the Supreme Court. 

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Demonstrators carry signs and flags in support of transgender people during the Trans March in Boise, Idaho, on Sept. 13,…