Three justices of the Supreme Court of the United States on Jan. 13 pressed advocates in two cases regarding transgender student participation in sports to define “sex” for the purposes of constitutional law.
“What is that definition, for equal protection purposes? What does it mean to be a boy or a girl, or a man or a woman?” asked Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. during the first round of oral arguments in the case of Little v. Hecox. In that case, Idaho’s law H.B. 500—which bans transgender individuals from participating in women’s sporting events—is being challenged by Lindsay Hecox, a transgender student at Boise State University who attempted to join the women’s track and cross-country teams.
