Committee sends HCR 2 to the floor praising Boise State volleyball boycott and urging NCAA, Mountain West policy change

The House State Affairs Committee on Tuesday voted to send House Concurrent Resolution 2 to the floor with a do‑pass recommendation after extensive testimony praising Boise State University’s women’s volleyball team for forfeiting matches rather than play against a biological male on an opposing roster.

Representative Barbara Ehart, R‑District 33, introduced the resolution and told the committee it “commends our Boise State women's volleyball team for taking such a courageous stance” after the team forfeited three matches, including a Mountain West tournament match that would have been the team’s path to the NCAA tournament. Ehart said the resolution asks the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA to change their policies.

Multiple witnesses supported the resolution. Riley Gaines, who identified herself as an ambassador for Independent Women's Voice, vice chair of Athletes for America with the America First Policy Institute and director of the Riley Gaines Center, described her experience competing against a male swimmer and said she and other female athletes were not forewarned or asked for consent to share locker rooms. “We were not forewarned. We were never asked for our consent. We did not give our consent to this exposure,” Gaines told the committee.

Marshie Smith, a former NCAA team captain who said she co‑founded the Independent Council on Women's Sports, said she and other athletes have pursued legal action, including suits against the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA, to defend female athletes’ rights. Edward Clark, policy assistant at the Idaho Family Policy Center, told the committee the physiological differences between biological males and females “strip girls of hard earned opportunities,” and cited an international report he said showed more than 900 medals had been awarded to biological males rather than women.

Several parents and local residents testified in support. April Chaney, an Idaho parent who said her daughter played in the Mountain West Conference, said the forfeitures and protests came at severe cost, including lost eligibility and forfeited records, and called for support of Boise State’s decision. “I support 100% the resolution and the young women on the Boise State team who sacrifice their own advancement in the conference to defend their rights,” Chaney said.

A witness opposing the resolution, Nixon Matthews, argued the issue is small in scale and that most governing bodies already have policies. Matthews cited an NCAA statement that fewer than 10 of roughly 510,000 NCAA athletes are transgender and said the federal governing body already sets standards including a testosterone threshold. “This conversation is about a small marginalized group, not a widespread issue,” Matthews said.

Committee members debated the resolution. Representative Green said he heard the testimony but would not support the resolution because it would “perpetrate a message that is still hurtful to a community who feels marginalized.” Representative Keeley, while praising the Boise State administrators and acknowledging the team’s decision, said she would vote no because revoking existing rules without replacements risks harm and because Title IX’s protections must be balanced with the rights of trans athletes. Representative Crane moved to send HCR 2 to the floor with a do‑pass recommendation.

The motion carried on a voice vote. Two members were recorded as voting no: Representative Green and Representative Achilles. The resolution as presented commends the Boise State team and calls on the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA to change their policies; it does not itself change university athletic policy or federal rules.

Representative Ehart told the committee she would expect similar legislative activity in other states. The committee concluded its business for the day following the vote.