Idaho Gov. Brad Little sent a message to his state’s schools Wednesday when he issued an executive order to carry out the Defending Women’s Sports Act. It was the latest move in a national effort to prevent biological men from competing in women’s sports in response to attempted changes to Title IX by the Biden-Harris administration.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital Friday, Little did not rule out having schools administer gender eligibility tests to any student who wants to compete in a girls or women’s sports, but he added he’d need more evidence to make a judgment.
“Are we going to require every person that competes in women’s sports to take a blood test? I’d have to see really good evidence that that’s necessary,” Little said when asked about the tests, which often measure hormone levels or chromosomes to determine gender eligibility.
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Gender eligibility tests came into the spotlight this year when the International Boxing Association (IBF) put out a statement saying it had disqualified women’s boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting from world championships in 2023 for failing to meet gender eligibility requirements based on tests. IBF President Umar Kremlev claimed unpublished DNA test results showed the two athletes have XY chromosomes, which is the default combination for men.
The two boxers won gold at the Paris Olympics this year, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended Khelif and Lin in an Aug. 1 statement, claiming they “comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU).”
Khelif has filed a lawsuit in France citing “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” over the public response to her participation.
Imane Khelif of Algeria competes against Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary in the women’s 66-kilogram quarterfinal match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte, France, Aug. 3, 2024. (Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Little did not explicitly say individuals with similar situations to Khelif and Lin would be barred from women’s sports, instead saying the restrictions would focus on athletes who previously competed in men’s sports.
“Obviously, a person with those kind of advantages, somebody that had competed previously in male sports and then transitioned over to compete in women’s sports, that’s what I’m certain the good people of Idaho think is wrong and shouldn’t happen,” Little said.
Little said there were no specific incidents in Idaho of biological males attempting to compete in girls or women’s sports that factored into the new law. However, he claims to have fielded phone calls from parents concerned about their daughters having to compete against men in the future.
The only example he mentioned was the case involving former collegiate swimmer and OutKick host Riley Gaines, who testified in Georgia about her experience competing against and sharing a locker room with a biological male, Lia Thomas.
Gaines was joined by four other NCAA All-American women athletes, who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in March alleging the association knowingly violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete. Gaines also joined Little on the steps of the Idaho Capitol earlier this week when he announced the executive order to reporters.
Lia Thomas after finishing fifth in the 200 freestyle during the 2022 NCAA Division I women’s swimming and diving championship at the McAuley Aquatic Center on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology March 18, 2022, in Atlanta. (Mike Comer/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
But, for Little, Gaines’ case represents a fear he has due to the final rule for Title IX under the current administration. The final rule, which passed this month, seeks to protect against discrimination “based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.”
On Aug. 16, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to strike down the Biden administration’s emergency request to enforce those protections. However, conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the three liberal justices in dissenting, arguing the state laws and preventative measures like Little’s went “overbroad.”
“I’m a fan of Justice Gorsuch, so I will always give him the benefit of the doubt. But if, in fact, it was overly broad, then let’s file a new case and get to the specifics of ‘we want to protect’ Title IX and women’s athletics from having to compete unfairly. It’s just that simple,” Little said in response to Gorsuch’s descent.
The Biden administration insisted its Title IX changes do not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts and witnesses presented evidence to Fox News Digital that suggested the changes have and would continue to enable biological men to compete in women’s sports.
Given a potential Kamala Harris White House victory in November and the current administration’s continued revisions of Title IX, Little knows his state might have a heavier fight ahead on maintaining his desired protections on women’s sports.
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New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard, the first transgender Olympian, fails on the final try in the women’s 87-kilogram weightlifting final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (Wally Skalij /Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Little said when asked if he expects a Harris victory to result in his schools losing federal funding due to the order he just passed.
“From a national standpoint, there are radical little groups that want to implement changes in the rules that we have already. I’m confident in what we have, and we will aggressively (act), as the state of Idaho, both legally and legislatively to protect women’s athletes and the great advances they’ve made because of Title IX.”
In the event of a Trump victory in November, Little hopes the current administration’s changes to Title IX are looked at “very closely.”
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
