Women’s Groups, 26 States Ask US Supreme Court to Hear Cases Seeking to Protect Women’s Sports

[BOISE] - Multiple states, women's sports advocacy groups, businesses, and other organizations have filed friend-of-the-court briefs asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear two cases concerning state laws that protect women's sports. The states of West Virginia and Idaho, with the assistance of attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court last month on behalf of female athletes.

In Hecox v. Little, Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador is asking the high court to uphold their state's Fairness in Women's Sports Act after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit stopped the law from going into effect.

"While we've been fighting for fair and equal athletic competition, activists have been pushing a radical agenda that will ultimately sideline women and girls. Many athletic associations around the world have seen the obvious truth that men are naturally stronger and would create a dangerous, unfair environment for women to showcase their incredible talent in sports. These voices from different backgrounds have joined us as we ask the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold our law and ensure that women and girls get the opportunities they deserve," said Attorney General Labrador.

In B.P.J. v West Virginia State Board of Education, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is asking the Supreme Court to hear their case after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled to undermine West Virginia's ability to protect fairness in women's sports.

"Back in April, the Fourth Circuit handed down a 2-1 ruling that reversed an earlier decision upholding the West Virginia's Save Women's Sports Act. I promised back then that I would keep fighting for the safety, wellbeing and fairness in women's sports, and I'm keeping that promise. I am thankful for the support coming from Alliance Defending Freedom and my many colleagues in other states," Attorney General Morrisey said.

A brief from 102 female athletes, coaches, sports officials, and parents of female athletes includes testimonies from women who lost opportunities to male athletes. "I swam the 500 freestyle in preliminaries where I got 17th, which means I did not make it back to the finals and was first alternate," says the testimony of Reka Gyorgy, a two-time ACC Champion from Virginia Tech and 2016 Hungarian Olympian. "I watched Lia Thomas [a biological male] from the pool deck win a women's national title in a finals that I deserved to be in because the rules in place did not support biological women. I couldn't help but cry and feel frustrated, angry, and sad. It hurt me, my team, and other women in the pool."