Women's Sports Under Siege: Supreme Court Faces Crucial Decision

Two states and female athletes are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to protect the fairness of women's sports by overturning lower court rulings that have allowed males to compete against women.

History, as the adage goes, is written by the victors. But what happens when the victors are not legitimate competitors? This is the question at the heart of a crucial case before the U.S. Supreme Court, as two states and female athletes fight to preserve the integrity of women's sports.

In recent years, a disturbing trend has emerged in the United States, with school boards and athletic associations allowing males to compete against women in women's sports. This has led to unfair advantages for biological males, who typically possess greater strength, speed, and endurance than their female counterparts.

Women's Sports Under Siege: Supreme Court Faces Crucial Decision

In response, Idaho and West Virginia passed laws known as the Fairness in Women's Sports Acts, which require athletes to compete in sports based on their biological sex. However, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged these laws, alleging that they discriminate against transgender athletes.

Lower courts have sided with the ACLU, but Idaho and West Virginia have petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn these decisions. They argue that the laws are necessary to protect the fairness of women's sports and to ensure that female athletes have a level playing field.

Women's Sports Under Siege: Supreme Court Faces Crucial Decision

At the heart of the case are two female athletes, Madison Kenyon and Mary Kate Marshall, who intervened to defend Idaho's law. Prior to their graduation from Idaho State University, they had to compete against a male athlete who consistently pushed them down in the rankings.

"We're supposed to smile and cheer and clap and pretend that we're all very happy about this—that we don't object to seeing our years of effort and lifelong dreams go up in so much smoke, and that we don't mind denying reality as long as it pleases the woke crowd and keeps our school safe from a lawsuit," Madison said, describing the frustration of losing to a male athlete.

Women's Sports Under Siege: Supreme Court Faces Crucial Decision

In West Virginia, another former college athlete, Lainey Armistead, also intervened to defend her state's law. As team captain of the West Virginia State University women's soccer team, she experienced firsthand the physical toll of fair competition.

"I saw the writing on the wall as I heard stories of other girls having to compete against men, and knowing that competing against men posed an unnecessary danger to her and her teammates, she felt she had no choice but to stand up for her peers and up-and-coming stars of women's sports," Lainey said.

Women's Sports Under Siege: Supreme Court Faces Crucial Decision

The Supreme Court's decision in this case will have far-reaching implications for women's sports. If the Court upholds the lower court rulings, it could open the door to the elimination of women's sports as we know them.

On the other hand, if the Court overturns the rulings and allows the Fairness in Women's Sports Acts to stand, it would send a clear message that the fairness of women's sports must be protected.

As Americans who believe in true equality, not a distortion of it, we must join Idaho and West Virginia in standing up for women. Biological reality and common sense tell us what we all instinctively know: men are men and women are women.

No woman should be sidelined in her own sport because a man subjectively believes himself to be a woman. And no girl should be left off the podium because the authorities in charge of her sport don't care that they are allowing men to rob her of her opportunities and advancement.

But if we sit back and do nothing, that's exactly what will happen.