Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Monday signed into law two bills that will help clamp down on the rise of gender ideology in his state.

The Fairness for Women in Sports Act, HB 500, will prohibit biological males from taking part in all-female athletic competitions, thus gaining an unfair advantage over the field.

And the Idaho Vital Statistics Act, HB 509, will prevent people from changing their sex marker on their birth certificates.

Faith and family leaders applauded both measures, particularly the Fairness for Women in Sports Act, which has enraged many female athletes across the nation.

“Girls deserve to compete on a level playing field,” said Kristen Waggoner, senior vice president of Alliance Defending Freedom’s U.S. legal division. “Allowing males to compete in girls’ sports destroys fair competition and women’s athletic opportunities. We commend Gov. Little for signing the Fairness for Women in Sports Act into law so that those opportunities will be protected in Idaho. When the law ignores biological differences, women and girls bear the brunt of the harm.”

Little came under intense pressure to veto the bill, said Kent Ostrander, executive director of The Family Foundation in Kentucky, but Idaho’s governor stood his ground, thereby ensuring a level playing field for female athletes.

Kentucky has a similar bill that didn’t move this year, Ostrander said, urging his supporters in an email letter, “Let’s try again next year.” Arizona also has a similar bill, the Save Women’s Sports Act, which has not been enacted.

Predictably, LGBTQ activist groups are up in arms over the Idaho legislation, aghast that a state would “have the nerve” to reject a major element of their radical agenda, said National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown.

“The grossly misnamed Human Rights Campaign has said, ‘Shame’ and labeled the state ‘a national innovator in discrimination,’” Brown said. “The ACLU directed their anger directly to the governor personally, saying: ‘We condemn your decision to sign discriminatory, unconstitutional and deeply hurtful anti-transgender bills into law.’”

The issue is part of the LGBTQ activist playbook, which continues to unfold, Brown said.

“They cannot debate the merits of biological men being allowed to compete against girls in high school and college sports—after all, the men have a massive advantage in terms of skeletal development, muscle mass and testosterone—so they instead just launch ad hominem attacks using charges of ‘hate,’ ‘bigotry,’ and ‘discrimination.’”

Blaine Conzatti, director of advocacy for the Family Policy Alliance of Idaho, called the bills the first of their kind in the nation, adding that the Vital Statistics Act will ensure the accuracy of birth certificates, the most important state vital record.

“Without accurate birth certificates, law enforcement officials will have a harder time identifying suspects and victims, and public health officials can’t compile accurate statistics,” Conzatti said. “Furthermore, just imagine the mess that occurs in the criminal justice system and in women’s domestic violence shelters when it becomes impossible to quickly and conclusively determine a person’s biological sex.”

 

Above: Idaho Gov. Brad Little delivers his State of the State address inside the house chambers at the state Capitol building, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020 in Boise, Idaho.

Photo: AP Photo/Otto Kitsinger