In State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey, supported by ADF attorneys who serve as co-counsel and as counsel to former college soccer player Lainey Armistead, are asking the court to uphold the state's law protecting fairness in women's sports.
In Little v. Hecox, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, also supported by ADF attorneys as co-counsel, is asking the high court to uphold his state's women's sports law.
At issue is whether states can bar males in female sports.
"Twenty-seven states now across the country have laws similar to those in West Virginia and Idaho that protect fairness and safety in women's and girls' sports, so, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules, this is going to have a nationwide impact," ADF legal counsel Suzanne Beecher told AFN. "We're hopeful that the Supreme Court will restore common sense and will protect fairness and safety in women's sports."
One reason states have taken steps to prevent males from female sports involves the argument from females that having to compete against males violates their Title IX rights.
Safety has also been a concern, with supporters of laws pointing to the physiological differences in males and females.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February banning males on female teams, but many Democrat-led states have not complied.
The USDA paused certain federal funds for Maine educational programs because Maine refused to ban transgender females from participating in girls’ sports.
In May, Maine and the USDA settled the dispute: the USDA agreed not to freeze or interfere with Maine’s federal nutrition funding without following proper legal procedures. In return, Maine dropped its lawsuit.
The University of Pennsylvania had about $175 million in discretionary federal funding suspended over allowing a male swimmer to compete on the women's team.
There are other examples and active litigation.
Some defenders of males in female sports have argued that the instances of such are very low in number, but Beecher says "all it takes is one male athlete to make it not a level playing field" and to remove fairness and safety from girls' sports.
Beecher said the impact of having a male on the playing field is real and profound.
"One example that is particularly notable is in Connecticut, a case where ADF is also representing female athletes," said Beecher. "There were two male athletes who identified as female and they took 15 girls' state championship titles and set 17 records in track and field for girls in Connecticut, so, there's a huge impact because of the physiological differences that males have over females."
