LGBTQ Athletes Pledge Support for Trans Women in Sports

Megan Rapinoe, Billie Jean King, and 174 other female athletes signed an amicus brief pledging their support to trans athletes participating for teams that match their gender identity. The brief was brought before Hecox v. Little, a lawsuit filed against the state of Idaho, passed a law this year banning trans women from competing in school sports on “female” teams.

“As women and LGBTQ+ athletes, we submit that all youth deserve an equal opportunity to participate in sports alongside their peers,” reads their brief. “Such equal opportunity benefits the entire sports community.”

The Idaho law allows for a female student-athletes gender to be “challenged” and requires athletes to undergo medical exams to “prove” their biology. Under this law, a physician will examine the athlete’s genitalia, hormones, and DNA to determine their gender. This level of examination is, as democrats have pointed out, not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Boise State Univerity athlete Lindsay Hecox, who is transgender, filed a federal lawsuit along with the ACLU against Idaho Governor Brad Little. Now, she’s getting help from some of the most famous women in sports from around the country.

Rapinoe—who led the U.S. Soccer Women’s National team to victory in 2019 at the Women’s World Cup in France and was Sport’s Illustrated’s 2019 Sportsperson of the Year—signed the amicus brief along with tennis legend Billie Jean King. King was the winner of 39 Grand Slam titles in her career and the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

The signers all “believe that every young person, and especially youth that are transgender or intersex, should be able to participate fully in sports alongside their peers and gain the benefits that sports participation brings,” claims the brief.

“There is no place in any sport for discrimination of any kind. I am proud to support all transgender athletes who simply want the access and opportunity to compete in the sport they love,” writes King. “The global athletic community grows stronger when we welcome and champion all athletes—including LGBTQ+ athletes.”

The brief stressed the importance of sports participation for students when it comes to learning skills like teamwork, managing stress, feeling acceptance, and getting experience with leadership. The document also calls out the Idaho bill for its “invasive and medically unnecessary testing.”

“I was grateful that when I came out as a lesbian I didn’t have to step away from the sport I loved,” says the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team member and amicus brief signer Lori Lindsey. “I gained the tremendous gift of being fully myself and showing other LGBTQ+ athletes that there’s a place for them in sports.”