A federal judge denied a transgender college athlete’s request to end her Supreme Court case challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban on trans and intersex female athletes playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. The judge said that it’s important to have the Court rule on the law, despite the athlete’s request to drop her case.

The athlete, Lindsay Hecox, initially sued Idaho in April 2020 for blocking her from joining Boise State University’s women’s cross-country team. A lower court and an appeals court ruled in Hecox’s favor, blocking the state’s ban from going into effect. However, Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) appealed the case to the Supreme Court. On July 3, the Court agreed to hear the case.

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But, on September 2, Hecox asked the Supreme Court to cancel her victories and drop her case, saying the case was “moot” as she no longer wished to pursue it. Hecox said her desire to drop the case stemmed from “negative public scrutiny” and increasing harassment, which harmed her mental health, safety, and ability to focus on schoolwork.

“I am afraid that if I continue my lawsuit, I will personally be subjected to harassment,” Hecox said.

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But in his Tuesday ruling, U.S. District Judge David Nye (who was appointed by both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump) agreed with Little’s motion to strike Hecox’s desire to dismiss the case.

“To put it simply, the Court has struggled with the correct outcome in this matter,” Nye wrote in his ruling. “The State of Idaho has defended this case vigorously for years. It would be fundamentally unfair to abandon the issue now on the eve of a final resolution.”

“The Court does not mean to romanticize the issue, but Hecox (and similarly situated individuals), as well as the citizens of Idaho, deserve to have these important legal questions answered,” Nye added.

Nye acknowledged that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear Hecox’s case and a separate case from West Virginia that also deals with a trans sports ban.

That case involves Becky Pepper-Jackson, a high school student who was banned from joining her school’s girls’ cross-country and track and field teams even though she had taken puberty blockers, which prevented her from undergoing any physiological changes associated with puberty for boys. A lower court issued an injunction against West Virginia’s trans sports ban, which allowed Pepper-Jackson to participate on the girls’ teams.

However, “the two states’ laws and the two cases are slightly different,” Nye wrote, adding, “The parties and the public have a vested interest in finality on the issues presented in this case…. The Court feels this approach [in not dismissing Hecox’s case] is more holistic and adequately weighs all interests, including the Court’s interests in organization and fairness.”

The Supreme Court will hear both cases next year and will likely issue its ruling in June. It will be the first time that the Court has issued a ruling on anti-trans sports bans.

Opponents of such bans say that they violate the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which guarantees all citizens equal treatment and due process under the law. However, supporters of such bans say they’re necessary to preserve fairness in female sports, since male puberty can possibly provide “physical advantages” to trans female athletes.

LGBTQ+ advocates worry the Supreme Court may rule in favor of the bans, seeing as the Court has issued anti-LGBTQ+ rulings supporting bans on gender-affirming care for trans youth and the right of parents to opt their children out of LGBTQ+-related school lessons.

In its upcoming session, the Supreme Court will also hear a case challenging state bans on conversion therapy, a widely debunked and harmful, pseudoscientific practice that purports to change people’s gender identity or sexual orientation.

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