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In a critical moment for women’s rights and equal opportunity, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on one of the most hotly debated issues of the day: Should men be allowed to join women’s sports teams?
That’s a question that we, as female athletes, asked the nation’s high court to address. Thankfully, on Thursday the court said it would.
A lot has been said about this issue. We’ve all seen the photos, watched the videos, heard the stories. In fact, it was common for political candidates in competitive races during the last election to run ads rightfully charging their opponents with taking away opportunities for girls. And President Donald Trump has made clear that he is standing with female athletes, too.
Lainey Armistead wondered if she would face male competitors when she stepped onto the pitch as captain of West Virginia State University’s soccer team. (Alliance Defending Freedom )
I, Madison, have firsthand experience with this injustice. I ran track and cross-country at Idaho State University and am very familiar with the differences in strength, speed and stamina between comparably gifted and trained male and female athletes. I was forced to compete against a male athlete and was pushed down in the rankings as a result.
COMMON SENSE SAYS WOMEN'S SPORTS ARE FOR WOMEN ONLY
As men competing in women’s sports became more widespread across the country, I, Lainey, wondered if I would be faced with a male competitor when I stepped onto the pitch as team captain of West Virginia State University’s soccer team.
I recently spoke to the United Nations alongside four U.N. member states and Reem Alsalem, the U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, at an event that ADF International coordinated to highlight Alsalem’s groundbreaking new report on "Violence against women and girls in sports."
Presented to the General Assembly, the report details the enormous costs incurred by female athletes, both to basic fairness and to their safety, when males are allowed to invade their sports and related spaces. Male athletes have taken more than 890 medals from more than 600 female athletes across 29 sports, according to that report.
Mary Kate Marshall, left, and Madison Kenyon at Idaho State University
TITLE IX WAS MEANT TO PROTECT WOMEN, NOT ERASE US
This is so discouraging, not just for us but for the next generation of little girls with big dreams. How do we inspire them? By creating female-only athletic spaces and rewarding genuine merit. We should never give a young girl lessons in unfair losing – teaching her that all those early mornings of hard work are disconnected from the result.
It’s impossible to ignore the consequences for female athletes when males are allowed into their sports and private spaces, like restrooms and locker rooms. Sports is one of the most obvious physical representations of the differences between the sexes.
But it won’t just be about a bigger, stronger, faster male athlete dominating a track or swimming event or threatening a girl’s privacy and safety by being allowed to access girls’ locker rooms or restrooms. It’s also about protecting basic, fundamental rights of women – and men. And recognizing that our laws, policies and culture must reflect biological reality and our inherent differences.
As more male athletes begin to dominate women’s sports, authorities are using shame and manipulation to keep women silent. But some brave women have been willing to speak up.
Truth is powerful, and courage is contagious. More and more women aren’t just sitting back. Not long ago, four state universities even forfeited games against San Jose State University because it allowed a male athlete on the women’s team, threatening the female players’ safety and protection.
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And states are taking a stand, too. West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey and Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador, together with attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom, are defending the laws protecting women’s sports in our home states of Idaho and West Virginia. Twenty-five other states have similar laws. That’s what prompted us to speak out in the first place: to defend each of our states’ laws.
Now, we have the incredible opportunity to make our case before the nation’s high court. And when we do, we’ll be urging it to consider the voices of all women, including the young girls with stars in their eyes, and protect the future of the sports we love so much.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM LAINEY ARMISTEAD
Lainey Armistead is a third-year student at Stetson University College of Law and a former team captain for the West Virginia State University women’s soccer team who intervened in defense of West Virginia’s sports law in B.P.J. v. West Virginia Board of Education.
