An Idaho law that bans transgender female athletes from competing in women's sports has been recently passed and is receiving support from the Trump administration and is expected to take effect July 1.
The ban prohibits transgender students who identify as female from competing on female teams sponsored by public schools, colleges, and universities and it does not apply to men's teams which implies the underlying assumption of all transgender female athletes possessing a physical advantage more than transgender male athletes.
NCAA, the National Collegiate Athletic Association allows transgender athletes to compete but Barbara Ehardt, Republican sponsor of the Idaho ban, said the NCAA policy would cancel nearly 50 years of progress women have made since the 1972 Title IX federal legislation.
The 1972 Education Amendments Act Title IX states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
The American Civil Liberties Union and Legal Voice women's rights group filed lawsuit in April arguing that the law violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because it is discriminatory against sex.
As a response to the lawsuit, the Justice Department wrote that the "Equal Protection Clause does not require states to abandon their efforts to provide biological women with equal opportunity to compete for, and enjoy the life-long benefits that flow from, participation in school athletics in order to accommodate the team preferences of transgender athletes."
In addition to the federal support of the Idaho law, a Christian group called Alliance Defending Freedom is defending two female athletes at Idaho State University and said, "We commend the DOJ for supporting a level playing field for female athletes."
The Justice Department continuously shows support for the law in a lawsuit that argues against transgender women athlete participation claiming transgender female athletes to possess an unfair physical advantage over the cisgender female athletes.
