Female athletes are eagerly awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision to accept transgender participation in women’s sports

The future of women’s sports may hang in the balance as female athletes wait to see if the Supreme Court will address cases addressing transgender participation in women’s sports.

Former college football player Lainey Armistead said Fox News Digital that he joined the Alliance Defending Freedom’s (ADF) litigation on behalf of future generations of women and girls in hopes that they can be afforded the same experiences she had growing up playing soccer on a level playing field.

Armistead attended West Virginia State University, where she earned a full scholarship to play soccer and serve as team captain, but said when she heard about the struggles other women and girls faced, including losing her place on the podium, losing scholarships, and also As instances where biological males were allowed access to locker rooms, on the court, and in hotel rooms with other female athletes, she felt compelled to support other women and girls.

“It was so amazing and formative for me to be able to play with my brothers,” she said. “But my dad always said, ‘Take it easy on your sister and don’t get too intense because you could really hurt her,’ and I used to be a bit indignant about that point, but I knew what my dad knew and what they knew my brothers, namely that I was biologically different.”

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“They were stronger and better and faster than me from a young age and I don’t want to admit that my little brother was always faster than me, but unfortunately it’s true,” she told Fox News Digital.

West Virginia passed the Save Women in Sports Act in 2021, banning transgender girls from competing against biological girls in sports.

“I never faced that difficult decision of whether or not I should play against a biological male because of the West Virginia law that protected me,” she said.

However, other athletes in the state were not given the same opportunity. Despite state law, the amendments to Title IX have created a battle royale between state and federal law.

The Biden-Harris administration is trying to redefine sex discrimination by amending Title IX to include gender identity, which critics say would destroy women’s equal opportunities in sports and threaten their privacy and safety in private spaces. The changes were implemented nationwide in August in states where the rule faces no legal challenges.

When the West Virginia law was passed, a 13-year-old transgender middle school student in the state, identified as BPJ in litigation, successfully obtained a federal court order to compete in girls’ sports.

According to the order, BPJ was given permission to compete with women and girls from the state of West Virginia. Adaleia Cross, West Virginia high school freshman and girls track and field athlete, he claimed that BPJ, who used the women’s locker room, sexually harassed her, repeatedly beat her in athletics, before finally pulling her out of the throwing events.

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As a result, ADF represents the parents of Adaleia Cross on behalf of their daughter as party aa Tennessee lawsuit against Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, arguing that the Biden administration’s Title IX update amounts to an illegal rewrite.

Rachel Rouleau, legal counsel for the ADF, told Fox News Digital that girls deserve to compete on a level playing field, something the ADF argues in the myriad of cases making their way through the legal system.

“Unfortunately, in the last three years, we’ve seen this male athlete displace almost 300 girls,” Rouleau said. “This really shows the impact of even one male athlete being allowed on women’s sports teams and that’s why Lainey got involved, because she doesn’t want this to happen to more women and girls across the country. “

In Armistead’s case, the district court said the West Virginia Save Women’s Sports law was consistent with Title IX, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision.

In another Supreme Court case, ADF is representing two female athletes in defense of the Idaho Save Women’s Sports law, which is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union. in Hecox v. Little.

“That’s why we’re taking this case to the Supreme Court so they can find what the district court found, that this is consistent with Title IX,” Rouleau told Fox News Digital. “Title IX was originally enacted to create these equal opportunities for women and girls, and that’s what the West Virginia law does. We hope the Supreme Court will uphold this.”

“This redefinition of sex to include gender identity is so insidious in so many different ways and really hurts opportunities for students, faculty, athletes, men and women,” she added.

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Right now, there are 26 states where changes to Title IX aren’t in effect because of preliminary injunctions, meaning that while the litigation continues, those laws won’t go into effect in those areas, Rouleau said.

“These changes really conflict with states that have passed Save Women’s Sports laws,” she told Fox News Digital. “There are 25 states across the country that have Save Women’s Sports laws, like West Virginia and Idaho, and these changes to Title IX would supersede those laws, putting women like Lainey and other athletes at risk and forcing them to compete in the same sports teams. “

“It’s not just about the sports side of things with these Title IX changes, it’s also about the privacy and safety side, because girls and women can’t compete on a level playing field if they can’t even change safely in their own locker rooms and bathrooms. “, she added. “That’s a very important part of these changes, just to make sure women have a private space to change and use the restroom with their teammates.”

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