Team USA athlete protests transgender bill at Idaho rally A transgender athlete who competes for Team USA is calling Idaho’s proposal to ban transgender females from competing against other women discriminatory.

“My sense has always been that even if a company didn’t particularly believe that it was appropriate, religiously, to be in same-sex unions, I think historically we’ve never allowed that to trump the fair employment laws once they’ve been read to prevent discrimination,” University of Idaho Law Professor John Rumel said.

The law could become clearer soon. Rumel noted that there are three cases before the Supreme Court right now that, while not directly applicable, could play some role in discrimination law as it pertains to the Teeters’ situation.

From a legal standpoint, Rumel said, the question might come down to a private business’ legal right to discriminate based on its sincerely held religious beliefs versus an individual’s right to not be discriminated against.

“Right now I don’t think the question is completely resolved,” Rumel said. “There are a lot of unanswered questions about it.”

Still fighting

Carrie Teeter has faced challenges because of her sexuality before. When she lived in Utah, she was fired for being gay, she said. She also struggled to get a driver’s license and passport in Utah because the state wouldn’t accept her legal name as legitimate, even though she’d gotten married legally in another state.