BOISE, Idaho — Two civil rights groups that filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Idaho law banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports have asked for a preliminary injunction to prevent the law from taking effect July 1.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Legal Voice filed the request Thursday to stop what is the first such law in the nation.
The law, “if not preliminarily enjoined before tryouts begin in August, will bar this subset of Idaho women and girls from school sports this fall,” the groups wrote.
The groups filed the lawsuit last month, contending the law violates the U.S. Constitution because it is discriminatory and an invasion of privacy.
The ban applies to all sports teams sponsored by public schools, colleges and universities. A girls’ or women’s team will not be open to transgender students who identify as female.
Backers said the law, called the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, is needed because transgender female athletes have physical advantages.
The Idaho attorney general’s office declined to comment Friday.
