DOJ Plays Offense on Girls Sports

When Idaho went to the mat to protect women’s sports, the ACLU vowed to see Republican Gov. Brad Little in court. One group it didn’t expect to see there is the U.S. Justice Department. But thanks to an administration that isn’t going to let the Supreme Court dictate gender roles, that’s exactly who will be waiting—for the ACLU and anyone else on the hunt to destroy fair competition.

In an announcement Friday morning, the DOJ made it clear the president isn’t letting up on their mission to give women a level playing field.

Just two weeks after the Department of Education jumped into the fray with its own funding threats in states like Connecticut, attorneys at the DOJ have filed a statement of interest in Idaho federal court warning the left that a fierce battle awaits for anyone who doesn’t respect gender differences.

“Allowing biological males to compete in all-female sports is fundamentally unfair to female athletes,” Attorney General William Barr spelled out in the agency’s announcement.

Under the Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause allows Idaho to recognize the physiological differences between the biological sexes in athletics. Because of these differences, the Fairness Act’s limiting of certain athletic teams to biological females provides equal protection. This limitation is based on the same exact interest that allows the creation of sex-specific athletic teams in the first place—namely, the goal of ensuring that biological females have equal athletic opportunities. Single-sex athletics is rooted in the reality of biological differences between the sexes and should stay rooted in objective biological fact.

States, the DOJ insists, shouldn’t abandon their efforts to give girls fair treatment. And thanks to groups like Save Women’s Sports, more legislators understand the threat to competition than ever.

State Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, one of the main reasons Idaho has a law for the DOJ to help defend, says that if the ACLU or NCAA try to punish the state for taking this stand, that’s disappointing. But they aren’t backing down—and other legislators shouldn’t either.

Plenty of major businesses and groups tried to convince Little to veto the bill.

“Chobani, Nike, and others with money … they tried to use their influence to say that [this law] would keep people from coming flocking here. But,” Ehardt points out, when you look at the most successful tourism states—places like North Carolina, Georgia, Utah, and Texas—“these are all states that have decided to take a stand at protecting the rights of girls and women … ”

Frankly, “This is a pretty benign stance, defending Title IX,” Ehardt argued. “A no-brainer.” The people of Idaho agree. And fortunately for America, so does this administration.

Originally published in Tony Perkins’ Washington Update, which is written with the aid of Family Research Council senior writers.