Female KY Legislators Join The Family Foundation on Save Women’s Sports SCOTUS Brief

As biblical values continue to receive legal challenges across the nation, The Family Foundation has remained focused on partnering with likeminded organizations and individuals to fight back and protect Kentucky’s laws. Last week, the Foundation had yet another opportunity to join in a legal brief submitted to the Supreme Court focused on upholding Idaho’s law protecting women’s sports—a law that is similar to the Commonwealth’s. Additionally, a number of female members of the Kentucky General Assembly committed to join the brief as well.

The author and primary sponsor of Idaho’s law protecting women’s sports, Rep. Barbara Ehardt, was the impetus behind filing the brief in Hecox v. Little. When asked about the legal threat to Idaho’s law, Rep. Ehardt said, “Title IX changed my life. People need to understand that the opportunities that I had growing up were incredibly limited. I was eight years old when Title IX passed in 1972. But I kept my hope alive, continued to practice and ended up achieving my goal of both playing (Idaho State) and coaching Division I Women’s basketball at four fantastic institutions (UC Santa Barbara, BYU, Washington State and as the head coach at Cal State Fullerton). It is through these experiences that I worked hard to pave a better path forward for those who would follow. After years of work and witnessing huge growth for girls and woman in sports, it is devastating to watch us go backwards and, once again, have all of the female opportunities be based on what males need first. It began as what was best for men and we’re back to what’s best for men. This is terribly disappointing.”

Commenting on the brief itself, Renee Carlson, General Counsel for True North Legal and co-author of the brief stated “Female athletes of all ages deserve a level playing field. Allowing men who identify as women to compete in women’s sports is hijacking more than podiums and scholarships. It’s taking away opportunities to learn valuable life lessons, develop character, and to build confidence, all of which are the often the additional benefits of many female athletes.”

The Family Foundation shares these thoughts and worked with the General Assembly back in the 2022 session to pass SB 83. Following its initial passage, the bill was vetoed by Governor Beshear on the grounds of maintaining “fairness” for transgender students. The Family Foundation, the General Assembly, and the citizens of the Commonwealth did not buy this illogical argument, and the veto was overridden by a large margin. In order to continue protecting Kentucky’s female students, we were glad to join with Idaho on their brief.

In total, fifty-five female state legislators from around the country and thirty-four organizations allied with the Family Policy Alliance joined the brief. The Family Foundation would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all Kentucky legislators who partnered with us on this effort. We pray that the Supreme Court will see the merits of the case and seek to uphold the straightforward truth that men should not compete in women’s sports.