00:00Gender identity does not matter in sports and that's why Idaho's law does not
00:04classify on the basis of gender identity. It treats all males equally and all
00:08females equally regardless of identity and its purpose is exactly what the
00:12legislature said, preserving women's equal opportunity. In fact, it's our
00:17friends on the other side who want to classify based on gender identity. They're
00:22seeking special treatment for males who allegedly lack an unfair advantage. But
00:27only if those males also identify as transgender. Denying special treatment
00:32isn't classifying on the basis of transgender status. It's consciously
00:36choosing not to. And those states who do allow it, are they, is your position that
00:42they are violating the Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause rights of
00:48biological girls and women by allowing that? Or do you say that's up to each
00:54state to decide and that the Constitution gives discretion to the state whether to
01:01allow it or not to allow it? I have not yet been persuaded by a constitutional
01:06theory that would let us use the Equal Protection Clause to impose our policy on
01:09other states in this matter. A variety of groups who study this issue think that
01:14allowing transgender women and girls to participate will undermine or reverse that
01:23amazing success and will create unfairness because you said if large numbers. Well, for the individual
01:32girl who does not make the team or doesn't get on the stand for the medal or doesn't make all league,
01:42there's a, there's a harm there. Uh, and I think we can't sweep that aside. Male athletes who take performance-altering drugs are not similarly situated to female athletes and states need not treat them the same.
01:57Circulating testosterone after puberty is the main determinant of sex-based biological advantage that HB 500 sought to address. And on this record, Lindsay Hecox has mitigated that advantage because she has suppressed her testosterone for over a year and taken estrogen.
02:13In terms of Bostick, uh, I understand that to say that discrimination on the basis of transgender status is discrimination on the basis of, of sex. But the question here is whether or not a sex-based classification, uh, is necessarily a transgender, uh, uh, classification.
02:33And I, I, I, I wonder if that is consistent with your understanding.
02:39But looking to the broader issue that a lot of people are interested in, there are an awful lot of female athletes who, uh, are strongly opposed to participation by trans athletes in competitions with them. Um, what, what do you say about them? Are they, are they bigots?
03:02Are they deluded in thinking that they are subjected to unfair competition?
Comments