Hecox v. Little

79 F.4th 1009

Lindsay HECOX; Jane Doe, with her next friends Jean Doe and John Doe, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Bradley LITTLE, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Idaho; Sherri Ybarra, in her official capacity as the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Idaho and as a member of the Idaho State Board of Education; Individual Members of the State Board of Education, in their official capacities; Boise State University; Marlene Tromp, in her official capacity as President of Boise State University; Independent School District of Boise City, # 1; Coby Dennis, in his official capacity as superintendent of the Independent School District of Boise City #1; Individual Members of the Board of Trustees of the Independent School District of Boise City, # 1; in their official capacities; Individual Members of the Idaho Code Commission, in their official capacities, Defendants-Appellants, and Madison Kenyon; Mary Marshall, Intervenors.

Lindsay Hecox; Jane Doe, with her next friends Jean Doe and John Doe, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Bradley Little, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Idaho; Sherri Ybarra, in her official capacity as the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Idaho and as a member of the Idaho State Board of Education; Individual Members of the State Board of Education, in their official capacities; Boise State University; Marlene Tromp, in her official capacity as President of Boise State University; Independent School District of Boise City, # 1; Coby Dennis, in his official capacity as superintendent of the Independent School District of Boise City #1; Individual Members of the Board of Trustees of the Independent School District of Boise City, # 1; in their official capacities; Individual Members of the Idaho Code Commission, in their official capacities, Defendants, and Madison Kenyon; Mary Marshall, Intervenors-Appellants.

No. 20-35813

No. 20-35815

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Argued and Submitted November 22, 2022 San Francisco, California

Filed August 17, 2023

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho, David C. Nye, Chief District Judge, Presiding, D.C. No. 1:20-cv-00184-DCN

W. Scott Zanzig (argued), Dayton P. Reed, Timothy Longfield, and Brian V. Church, Deputy Attorneys General; Lincoln D. Wilson; Steven L. Olsen, Chief of Civil Litigation Division; Brian Kane, Assistant Chief Deputy; Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Boise, Idaho, for Defendants-Appellants.

Kristen K. Waggoner, John J. Bursch, and Christiana M. Holcomb, Alliance Defending Freedom, Washington, D.C.; Bruce D. Skaug and Raul R. Labrador, Skaug Law PC, Nampa, Idaho; Roger G. Brooks, Alliance Defending Freedom, Scottsdale, Arizona; Christopher P. Schandevel, Alliance Defending Freedom, Ashburn, Virginia; Cody S. Barnett, Alliance Defending Freedom, Lansdowne, Virginia; for Intervenors-Appellants.

Andrew Barr (argued), Cooley LLP, Broomfield, Colorado; Chase Strangio and James D. Esseks, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, New York, New York; Richard Eppink and Dina M. Flores-Brewer, American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho Foundation, Boise, Idaho; Elizabeth Prelogar, Cooley LLP, Washington, D.C.; Catherine West, Legal Voice, Seattle, Washington; Kathleen R. Hartnett, Cooley LLP, San Francisco, California; Selim Aryn Star, Star Law Office PLLC, Hailey, Idaho; for Plaintiffs-Appellees.

Lauren R. Adams, Women's Liberation Front, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae Women's Liberation Front.

James A. Campbell, Solicitor General; David T. Bydalek, Chief Deputy Attorney General; Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General of Nebraska; Nebraska Attorney General's Office, Lincoln, Nebraska; for Amici Curiae States of Nebraska, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia.

Kara Dansky, Women's Human Rights Campaign — USA, Medford, Oregon, for Amicus Curiae Women's Human Rights Campaign — USA.

Randall L. Wenger, Independence Law Center, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Gary S. McCaleb, Flagstaff, Arizona; for Amici Curiae Medical Professionals in Support of Interveners-Appellants and Urging Reversal.

Thomas E. Chandler, Matthew J. Donnelly, and Elizabeth Hecker, Attorneys; Alexander V. Maugeri, Deputy Assistant Attorney General; Eric S. Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General; United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Appellate Section, Washington, D.C.; Candice Jackson and Farnaz F. Thompson, Deputy General Counsels; Reed R. Rubinstein, Principal Deputy General Counsel; United States Department of Education, Office of the General Counsel, Washington, D.C.; Peter L. Wucetich, Assistant United States Attorney; Bart M. Davis, United States Attorney; Boise, Idaho; for Amicus Curiae United States.

Edward M. Wenger, Tallahassee, Florida, for Amicus Curiae Sandra Bucha, Linda Blade, Vicki Huber-Rudawsky, Inga Thompson, Maria Blower, and Rebecca Dussault.

Chris N. Ryder and Gail Hammer, Lincoln LGBTQ+ Rights Clinic, Spokane, Washington, for Amicus Curiae Lincoln LGBTQ+ Rights Clinic.

Jessica L. Ellsworth, Kaitlyn A. Golden, Danielle D. Stempel, Nel-Sylvia Guzman, and Ray Li, Hogan Lovells US LLP, Washington, D.C.; Fatima G. Graves, Emily Martin, Sunu Chandy, Neena Chaudhry, Shiwali Patel, and Cassandra Mensah, National Women's Law Center, Washington, D.C.; Jon Greenbaum, David Hinojosa, and Bryanna A. Jenkins, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae National Women's Law Center, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and 60 Additional Organizations.

Carl S. Charles, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc., Atlanta, Georgia; Paul D. Castillo, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc., Dallas, Texas; Diana Flynn and Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc., New York, New York; Sasha Buchert, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc., Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae 176 Athletes in Women's Sports, The Women's Sports Foundation, and Athlete Ally in Support of Plaintiffs-Appellees and Affirmance.

Jonah M. Knobler, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, New York, New York, for Amicus Curiae interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth.

Jesse R. Loffler, Cozen O' Connor, for Amici Curiae Transgender Women Athletes.

Aaron M. Panner, Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick PLLC, Washington, D.C.; Scott B. Wilkens, Wiley Rein LLP, Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, and 10 Additional Healthcare Organizations.

Adam R. Tarosky, Seth D. Levy, and Sarah E. Andre, Nixon Peabody LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Amicus Curiae Three Former Idaho Attorneys General.

Matthew D. Benedetto, Thomas F. Costello, William Cutler Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP, Los Angeles, California; Adam M. Cambier and Alison Burton, Wilmer Cutler Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP, Boston, Massachusetts; for Amici Curiae Teammates, Coaches, and Allies of Transgender Athletes.

Angela R. Vicari, Rosalyn Richter, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, New York, New York; Kirk Jenkins, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, San Francisco, California; for Amici Curiae Altria Group Inc., Amalgamated Bank, Asana Inc., Ben and Jerry's Homemade Inc., Lush Cosmetics LLC, Nike Inc., and The Burton Corporation.

Kaliko'onalani D. Fernandes, Deputy Solicitor General of Counsel; Kimberly T. Guidry, Solicitor General; Clare E. Connors, Attorney General of Hawaii; Honolulu, Hawaii; Linda Fang, Assistant Solicitor General of Counsel; Anisha S. Dasgupta, Deputy Solicitor General; Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General; Letitia James, Attorney General, State of New York; New York, New York; Xavier Becerra, California Attorney General, Sacramento, California; Philip J. Weiser, Colorado Attorney General, Denver, Colorado; William Tong, Connecticut Attorney General, Hartford, Connecticut; Kathleen Jennings, Delaware Attorney General, Wilmington, Delaware; Kwame Raoul, Illinois Attorney

General, Chicago, Illinois; Aaron M. Frey, Maine Attorney General, August, Maine; Brian E. Frosh, Maryland Attorney General, Baltimore, Maryland; Maura Healey, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Attorney General, Boston, Massachusetts; Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General, St. Paul, Minnesota; Aaron D. Ford, Nevada Attorney General, Carson City, Nevada; Gurbir S. Grewal, New Jersey Attorney General, Trenton, New Jersey; Hector Balderas, New Mexico Attorney General, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Joshua E. Stein, North Carolina Attorney General, Raleigh, North Carolina; Ellen F. Rosenblum, Oregon Attorney General, Salem, Oregon; Joshua Shapiro, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Attorney General, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Peter F. Neronha, Rhode Island Attorney General, Providence, Rhode Island; Thomas J. Donovan, Jr., Vermont Attorney General, Montpelier, Vermont; Mark R. Herring, Commonwealth of Virginia Attorney General, Richmond, Virginia; Robert W. Ferguson, Washington Attorney General, Olympia, Washington; Karl A. Racine, District of Columbia Attorney General, Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae States of New York, Hawai'i, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, and the District of Columbia.

Susan B. Manning, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, Washington, D.C.; for Amici Curiae GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

Abbey J. Hudson, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Los Angeles, California, for Amicus Curiae The Trevor Project Inc.

Before: Kim McLane Wardlaw, Ronald M. Gould, and Morgan Christen, Circuit Judges.^*

Opinion by Judge Wardlaw;

Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge Christen

OPINION

WARDLAW, Circuit Judge:

In March 2020, Idaho enacted the Fairness in Women's...