ACLU Sues State of Idaho Over Battle Banning Transgender Student Athletes

In the world of college and high school sports, there's a battle brewing over whether boys and men who identify as female can compete against biological females.

Idaho is one of the epicenters where a new law, known as the Fairness in Women's Sports Act bans transgender athletes from female sports.

Now, the ACLU is suing the state over the law and it's asking the NCAA to boycott Idaho.

Madison Kenyon is an Idaho State University track athlete who has filed a motion supporting the law. She told CBN News it's "frustrating and discouraging" to lose against a transgender opponent that is a male.

"When I was racing in cross country and in track, I did compete against a male athlete, and both times I lost," she said. "Biologically, males are capable of so much more. When you're training at the collegiate level, putting everything out there and training as hard as you can then get beat by somebody that you can't really compete against. They will naturally hit levels of success in athletics that are higher than what I'm capable of as a female."

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Attorney Christiana Holcomb with Alliance Defending Freedom is representing Kenyon and says this situation is pivotal for women and fairness in sports.

"Idaho is the first state in the nation to pass a Fairness in Women's Sports Act," Holcomb told CBN News. "What the NCAA is doing here is completely out of step with what the American public wants."

She added that over half of Americans agree that it's wrong for men to compete in women's sports.

"A recent poll demonstrated that well over 75 percent of Americans agreed that it's unfair to allow males to compete in and dominate girls sports. We really hope the NCAA does not go forward with the boycott of Idaho," Holcomb said.

"If the NCAA boycotts the state of Idaho, that sends a chilling message to female athletes across the country...the NCAA doesn't care about your fair competition."

Kenyon explained that she got involved in the matter because she has personally experienced the unfairness of biological males competing against females.

"I have lost to a male and it's unfair. I got involved in this because I thought it was the best way for me to stand up for something that I believe in, to support women's sports, and to advocate for these opportunities that should be protected for us."

CBN News has previously reported on the biological differences between men and women when competing in sports, and the impact of transgender activism on the lives of female athletes.

Three girl track athletes in Connecticut filed a complaint with the Education Department and a federal lawsuit against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference over a state policy allowing anyone who identifies as female to compete in girls' sports.

Selina Soule, Alanna Smith, Chelsea Mitchell, and their mothers filed suit in federal court, challenging the state policy that allows trans athletes with male DNA to compete against girls. The female track athletes argued that two biologically male transgender runners had an unfair physical advantage.

The suit cited Title IX and biology.

"In track-and-field events that do not use equipment, the physiological differences between males and females after puberty are stark in the record books," it said. "Boys and men consistently run faster and jump higher and farther than girls and women."

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