Courtesy of Michael Key/Washington Blade
On Jan. 13, the U. S. Supreme Court held hearings for two cases filed against state laws that aim to ban participation in school sports for transgender women and girls. Little v. Hecox concerns Lindsay Hecox, a college student and hopeful track runner at Boise State University, who is challenging House Bill 500, a 2020 law signed by Idaho Gov. Brad Little. West Virginia v. B.P.J. follows Becky Pepper-Jackson, a now-15-year-old high school student who was not allowed to try out for middle school sports under House Bill 3293, a law passed in West Virginia in 2021.
Both cases are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and Legal Voice. Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, explained his view on the case in a blog post for Lambda Legal:
“This case is about the ability of transgender youth like Becky to participate in our schools and communities. … forcing Becky to either give up sports or play on the boys’ team — in contradiction of who she is at school, at home, and across her life — is really no choice at all.”
However, proponents for banning transgender women’s participation in athletics argue on the basis of fairness. Idaho State Rep. Barbara Erhardt, author of House Bill 500, explained her position to ESPN:
“It’s important to recognize that allowing a biological male takes away the opportunity of a gal and it infringes on the opportunities of everybody they play.”
As of February, there is no law in Oregon that restricts trangender participation in athletics. In June 2025, three Oregon student-athletes filed a federal lawsuit against transgender women in athletics, similar to those brought to the Supreme Court. According to the Gender Identity Participation section of the Oregon School Activities Association Handbook, transgender, nonbinary and intersex students must notify their school as to which gender they would like to compete under. They shall then “be treated as either gender for purposes of eligibility for athletics and activities that are gender‐segregated or gender‐specific.”
At the collegiate level, however, most varsity sports are subject to the rules of the NCAA. On Feb. 6, 2025, the NCAA announced an update to their participation policy for transgender athletes following an executive order from President Donald Trump. The men’s team rules allow competition of athletes “regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity.” The updated women’s team rules state that “a student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete for an NCAA women’s team. … (and) a student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may not compete on a women’s team.” This restriction of women’s teams while allowing full participation on men’s teams mirrors the laws that Pepper-Jackson and Hecox are challenging at the Supreme Court.
To understand more how transgender participation in sports is present at Lewis & Clark, The Mossy Log spoke to Charlotte Copp, head coach of the LC Crew teams. The two teams are referred to as the Men’s Squad and the Dub Squad.
“We all say our chant at the end of the day, and when I think about the whole roster, I think about everybody, not just one squad or another,” Copp said.
She explained that despite the NCAA updated guidelines from last year, each of the four schools in the Northwest Conference were able to keep their rosters intact, prioritizing athletes’ sense of belonging over the restrictions:
“One aspect of DIII collegiate rowing is that we want to just give people access to the sport,” she continued. While competition regulations are important, “at the end of the day, we just want the boats to go a little faster, so it doesn’t necessarily matter where you’re sitting.”
For LC’s club sports, on the other hand, the federally affected NCAA rules do not apply. The Mossy Log spoke to Suzie Myles ’26, a captain of Artemis Ultimate Frisbee team, to get an idea of how gender plays a role in the Ultimate world.
“Anyone is welcome to join and practice with us, with either team, regardless of gender identity,” Myles explained. “Artemis competes in the Women’s Plus Division and Bacchus competes in the Open Division.”
While mixed teams are relatively common, and players can choose their team placement regardless of gender, they are asked to “match” to either male or female regarding their physicality.
“If you’re trying to be a gender-inclusive sport, it feels like a clunky way to achieve that, and not necessarily the best solution, though I don’t know what would be,” Myles continued. As of the publishing of this article, there are no updates regarding Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., but the Supreme Court is expected to make their decision by late June. While arguments both for and against these bans range from ideological to technical, at LC, what appears to be the most important is the sense of belonging and an opportunity to get involved in sports for all students, regardless of gender identity.
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