Dozens of athletes, business owners, lawmakers and activists rallied to protect women’s sports yesterday while the Supreme Court heard arguments in State of West Virginia v. BPJ and Little v. Hecox — two cases which will determine whether states can enforce laws keeping boys out of girls sports.
The rally, hosted by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the law firm helping litigate BPJ and Little, boasted a roster of powerful speakers — including eight women forced to compete against or alongside men.
“I was pleased and honored to be at the Supreme Court rally,” Tim Goeglein, Focus on the Family’s cice president of External and Government Relations, told the Daily Citizen, describing the lively, tight-packed crowd.
“Focus on the Family believes girls should compete against girls, and that boys should compete against boys,” Goeglein continued. “That makes sports competition fair for everyone.”
He concluded:
We believe fairness will be upheld [in BPJ and Little], affirming foundational justice in one of the most high profile sets of cases in this Supreme Court term.
Riley Gaines, Brooke Slusser, Kaylie Ray, Kaitlynn Wheeler, Stephanie Turner, Selina Soule, Sara Casebolt and Alexa Anderson each experienced firsthand the damage men cause by invading women’s sports.
Gaines and Wheeler, who swam together at the University of Kentucky, were forced to compete against and change in front of Lia Thomas — a man.
Slusser practiced and lived with Blaire Fleming, a teammate on San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team. The university never told Slusser that Fleming was a man.
Slusser and Fleming played in the same conference as Ray, the captain of Utah State’s women’s volleyball team. Ray and her team chose to forfeit games against Fleming.
“The leaders whose responsibility it was to protect student athletes chose silence,” Ray recalled at the rally.
“Instead, they placed the burden on us — individual players — to forfeit in order to preserve our dignity.”
Turner took a knee at a USA Fencing competition rather than compete against a man.
“That act was not defiance,” she told rally-goers. “It was desperation. It was a cry for help.”
Soule, Anderson and Casebolt each lost high school track and field races to boys. Anderson received hate mail for refusing to share the podium with a male competitor.
All eight athletes addressed the rally, not with bitterness, but with earnest desire to protect their fellow athletes — including family members — from enduring the same hardship.
Turner felt alone after she took a knee. But she did it so other girls would never have to. Meaningful change begins when a few people make the choice to do good, she reflected, even when it’s costly and uncomfortable.
Wheeler spoke on behalf of her younger sister, who was “made to feel like the problem” after objecting to undressing in front a man.
“[My sister] didn’t consent to this ideology,” Wheeler emphasized, speaking loudly to drown out disruptive counter protesters:
She didn’t consent to the exploitation happening in the locker rooms. She should never have had to sacrifice her privacy for someone else’s identity. And she shouldn’t have to sacrifice her privacy so adults can avoid telling the truth.
Gaines brought her three-month old daughter along to the rally, protected by a tiny bullet-proof vest.
“My world was flipped upside down three months ago when my husband and I welcomed our little baby girl into this world,” Gaines recalled fondly.
She concluded:
I hope one day, when she’s old enough, she will look back on the fight … that we have been fighting … and recognize that we’re fighting for her. We’re fighting for her to be able to call her champion. We are fighting for a fair and safe and just and righteous country and world that she will inherit.
The Daily Citizen praises these athletes for their courage and selflessness in advocating to keep men out of women’s sports.
Additional Articles and Resources
Top 5 Moments From Supreme Court Arguments Over Girls Sports
Supreme Court to Hear Title IX Girls Sports Case
U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Cases on Boys in Girls Sports
UPenn Will Strip ‘Lia’ Thomas of Medals, Apologize to Female Athletes
SJSU Hired Same Law Firm to Simultaneously Defend and Investigate Male Athlete on Women’s Team
NCAA and San Jose State ‘Transgender’ Volley Player Usurp Women’s Rights
Four Women’s Volleyball Teams Forfeit — Won’t Play Team with a Man
USA Fencing Explicitly Prioritizes Men’s Feelings Over Women’s Safety and Athletic Achievement
Yes, Girls Care When Boys Take Their Trophies
Appeals Court Revives Case Disputing Men’s Participation in Girls High School Sports
