The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that states can acknowledge that biological reality matters when it comes to women’s sports.In a 9-0 ruling regarding Title IX and a 6-3 ruling on equal protection, the Supreme Court upheld laws in West Virginia and Idaho that protect safety and fairness for women and girls in athletics. Alliance Defending Freedom was proud to serve as co-counsel with Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador and West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey in defending both of their states’ laws protecting women’s sports. The ruling couldn’t have come at a more critical time. Ignoring reality comes at a cost, and when we ignore it in school sports, young girls are paying the price.Let’s talk about who this ruling protects.
This ruling protects girls such as Adaleia Cross and her younger sister. Cross is a young girl in West Virginia who competed against a biologically male student who challenged the state law barring biological males who identify as female from competing against girls. While the lawsuit was making its way through the court system, the plaintiff was allowed to compete against girls and beat more than 470 girls in track and field as a result. In the locker room, the plaintiff used sexually aggressive language toward Cross, and school officials did nothing meaningful to address the matter. Cross ended up leaving the sport she loves.Because West Virginia is now allowed to enforce its law, Cross again has the opportunity to compete safely and fairly. And her younger sister won’t have to go through what she experienced. The same goes for other girls in West Virginia, Idaho, and the 25 other states that have similar laws.But there is more work to be done, and the court ruling paves the way to protect girls in states that don’t have laws protecting female athletes. The next step is to ensure protection for girls such as Kallie Keeler in Washington state, where state policies jeopardize girls’ fairness and safety.The Washington high schooler, who has been wrestling since she was 4, felt her opponent’s fingers violating her during a match. She cried to her mother in shock, eventually giving up trying to win the match. She broke down in tears after. It was only after all this that another coach informed her and her mother that her wrestling opponent was biologically male.Keeler’s mother, Stephanie Brown, reported what happened to school officials, who had 48 hours under state law to report the matter to authorities. It took them 53 days, and it only happened after the media contacted the district about the sexual assault.And the harms of denying biological truth aren’t confined to sports.The Supreme Court is seen on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
