Attorney General Raúl Labrador is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a circuit court decision blocking Idaho from enforcing its restrictions on transgender athletes.

In 2020, Boise State University student Lindsay Hecox, who is transgender, sued the state over a law that bars transgender women and girls from competing in female sports. U.S. District Judge David Nye issued an injunction in 2020, which blocked the state from enforcing the law. Last year, a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the injunction.

On Thursday, Labrador announced that his office petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review that decision. At least four Supreme Court justices must agree to review a case.

“Allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports creates a dangerous, unfair environment for women to showcase their incredible talent and access critical scholarships,” Labrador, a Republican, said in a news release. “We are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Idaho’s law and ensure that women and girls get the athletic opportunities they deserve.”

Idaho was the first state to enact a transgender athlete ban. Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, a former women’s college basketball coach, sponsored the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.”

Since then, 24 other states have passed laws restricting transgender athletes from competing on teams that align with their gender identity, according to the attorney general’s petition.

The American Civil Liberties Union along with the ACLU of Idaho, Legal Voice and Cooley LLP are representing Hecox.

Rebecca De Leon, communications director for the ACLU of Idaho, said the Ninth Circuit’s decision was “clear that transgender athletes face irreparable harm” from the Idaho law.

“This ban is designed to alienate and stigmatize transgender people, and we’ll gladly make the case to the court that they should leave the Ninth Circuit’s thorough opinion in place,” De Leon said by email.