San Jose State University was hit with a Title IX violation by the United States Department of Education after an investigation found that the school&#8217;s women&#8217;s volleyball team kept a male player on its roster from 2022 to 2024.
The university is now saying it&#8217;s &#8220;reviewing&#8221; the Education Department&#8217;s findings.
In a statement to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/sjsu-responds-trump-admin-probe-found-university-violated-title-ix-trans-volleyball-player">Fox News</a>, San Jose State University said: &#8220;San Jose State, a member of the California State University system, received notification from the federal Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights regarding its investigation into athletics participation on our past women’s volleyball teams. The Department informed the University of the outcome of its investigation and its findings. The University is in the process of reviewing the Department’s findings and proposed resolution agreement. We remain committed to providing a safe, respectful, and inclusive educational environment for all students while complying with applicable laws and regulations.&#8221;
The statement comes after the Department of Education concluded its investigation into the school on Wednesday.
&#8220;The U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) found that San José State University (SJSU) violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX),&#8221; the department said in a statement. &#8220;OCR concluded that SJSU’s policies allowing males to compete in women’s sports and access female-only facilities deny women equal educational opportunities and benefits.&#8221;
Blaire Fleming is a male who played on the women&#8217;s volleyball team at San Jose State. Fleming played both indoor and beach volleyball. Fleming&#8217;s background became news after multiple <a href="https://reduxx.info/exclusive-biological-male-quietly-joined-womens-ncaa-division-i-volleyball-at-san-jose-state-university/">outlets</a> reported SJSU allegedly tried to hide Fleming&#8217;s sex from teammates, coaches, and opponents.
The Office of Civil Rights said that the cover-up forced female athletes on San Jose&#8217;s volleyball team to share locker rooms and hotel rooms with a male.
In addition to the privacy concerns, there were also alarming safety concerns. The investigation alleges that Fleming spiked the ball so hard that it knocked women on the opposing team to the ground. During one season, seven all-women’s teams from other universities forfeited their competitions, accepting a loss rather than competing against a male.
When Fleming&#8217;s sex was made known to Brooke Slusser, the teammate of Fleming filed a lawsuit against the school and the NCAA for not informing her or her teammates that Fleming was a male. An assistant coach was suspended and not re-contracted after she filed a Title IX complaint over the school’s handling of the male player.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ncaa-volleyball-player-says-coaches-repeatedly-assigned-her-to-room-with-trans-player-at-his-request">NCAA Volleyball Player Says Coaches Repeatedly Assigned Her To Room With Trans Player At His Request</a>
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. United States Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said she will hold San Jose State accountable.
&#8220;San José State University caused significant harm to female athletes by allowing a male to compete on the women’s volleyball team— and when female athletes spoke out, SJSU retaliated,&#8221; McMahon said.
As a result of the university&#8217;s noncompliance, the Department of Education is requiring a list of <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-educations-office-civil-rights-finds-san-jose-state-university-violated-title-ix">actions</a> to be taken, including a public statement from SJSU saying the university will adopt biology-based definitions of the words &#8220;male&#8221; and &#8220;female.&#8221;  The school will also acknowledge that the sex of a human, male or female, is unchangeable, and send an apology to players who were on the volleyball and beach volleyball teams with Fleming and any players who refused to compete against Fleming. In the apology, the university has to express sincere regret for placing female athletes in that position.
San Jose State University has 10 days to comply or risk “imminent enforcement action.”
“We will not relent until SJSU is held to account for these abuses and commits to upholding Title IX to protect future athletes from the same indignities,&#8221; Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said.

Credit: J. David Ake/Andrew Wevers via Getty Images

Trump Admin Hits University With Title IX Violation Over Male Athlete In Women’s Sports

Social Issues

Title IX

Transgender Athletes

U.S.

Women's sports

The steps of the Supreme Court were the backdrop for hundreds of women and men who showed up on Tuesday to protect the sanctity of women&#8217;s sports.
For the first time, the Court heard cases on whether men could compete in women&#8217;s sports. While arguments occurred inside the courtroom, a rally could be heard outside the building, where the women leading the movement made their voices heard.
The two cases presented to the Supreme Court on Tuesday won&#8217;t have a decision for months. But Kaitlynn Wheeler is hopeful the outcome will ensure that women — and only women — can compete in women&#8217;s sports for generations to come. Wheeler, alongside other women, has fought for years to keep men out of women&#8217;s sports.
At Kentucky, Wheeler competed against Lia Thomas, the man who infamously tied with Riley Gaines, igniting the movement to save women&#8217;s sports
&#8220;I&#8217;m optimistic that it will be in our favor, in the favor of common sense, and in the favor of the overwhelming majority of the American people,&#8221; Wheeler said.
Trump signed the &#8220;Keeping Men Out Of Women&#8217;s Sports&#8221; executive order last February, but Wheeler wants federal law to reflect it so it cannot be so easily reversed.
&#8220;This is something that we need to get codified into law,&#8221; Wheeler explained. &#8220;We need to really look at Title IX, too, and even add on to Title IX, and make it into law because again, it can be taken down just as quickly as it was put up.&#8221;
Wheeler, like the defendants in court Tuesday, believes Title IX defines sex by biological sex, and it needs to reflect that.
&#8220;I think Title IX needs to define them, that way we eliminate the confusion,&#8221; Wheeler said.
&#8220;Everyone is so excited to be together because we have all been fighting for this for years now,&#8221; Payton McNabb, another one of the women at the frontlines of the movement, told The Daily Wire.
McNabb was severely injured by a man on a high school girls&#8217; volleyball team just before she turned 18. She couldn&#8217;t drive for months. She couldn&#8217;t finish out her volleyball season because she suffered a concussion and a neck injury from the spike.
&#8220;This stuff is just so insane that it doesn&#8217;t even sound real, but that&#8217;s actually a reality,&#8221; McNabb said.
<div id="attachment_1027361" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1027361" class="size-large wp-image-1027361" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-56-1-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-56-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-56-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-56-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-56-1.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Payton McNabb</div>
These women, along with Gaines, former gymnast Jennifer Sey, former ESPN anchor Sage Steele, and others, have spearheaded the fight, but men have joined the battle too.
Dakota Meyer is a girl dad, a Marine, and an ambassador with Sey&#8217;s clothing brand, XX-XY. He told The Daily Wire that more men need to speak up against males competing in the women&#8217;s category.
&#8220;My daughters are tall, so like they&#8217;re taller than a lot of the boys their age, but when they play a boys team, even at eight and nine years old, my daughters cannot keep up with them,&#8221; Meyer said.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fighting-for-the-bare-minimum-riley-gaines-speaks-out-before-scotus-trans-case?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=23&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=%E2%80%98Fighting+For+The+Bare+Minimum%E2%80%99%3A+Riley+Gaines+Speaks+Out+Before+SCOTUS+Trans+Case">‘Fighting For The Bare Minimum’: Riley Gaines Speaks Out Before SCOTUS Trans Case</a>
Tuesday saw many protesters oppose keeping men out of women&#8217;s sports, but the majority of the people present were there to back the movement to protect women. McNabb said she&#8217;s been most surprised by support from Democrats, even though she thinks that stating biology shouldn&#8217;t be a partisan issue.
&#8220;They understand that this issue is so real and it means so much to them because everyone has a woman in their life and this affects them ultimately in some way,&#8221; McNabb said.
The Tuesday rally in Washington, D.C., was a success on all accounts, according to McNabb. The now 20-year-old waits with the rest of the country on the high court&#8217;s ruling.
&#8220;I&#8217;m praying for a good outcome here,&#8221; McNabb said. &#8220;I&#8217;m praying over all the Supreme Court justices, but also everyone that&#8217;s been affected, and that the other side will have clarity and understand that they are loved and created in God&#8217;s image.&#8221;

llustration by Daily Wire staff

Women Rally At Supreme Court Steps As Justices Weigh Landmark Cases To Protect Female Athletes

Women Stand For Truth On Supreme Court Steps As Court Hears Case On Protecting Women's Sports

News

Supreme Court

MixCollage-09-Jan-2026-12-50-PM-1486

LIVE UPDATES: Supreme Court Hears Landmark Women’s Sports Cases

Riley Gaines

Common sense is on the line at the Supreme Court, a group of female athletes and Republican officials warned Monday.
The Republican Attorneys General Conference and prominent female athletes like Riley Gaines held a press conference on Monday ahead of oral arguments in two cases that revolve around the rights of states to pass laws that keep men off of women’s sports teams. They said that the case will have far-reaching consequences for women’s privacy and safety.
“The reason that we are here is because Idaho and West Virginia passed common sense laws that delineate the athletic playing fields in our states between the sexes,” said West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey. “West Virginia&#8217;s law makes sure that every single woman and girl in West Virginia has a safe and fair playing field in order for them to earn and learn all of the amazing skills that come from competitive team athletics.”
The justices will hear two different sets of oral arguments on Tuesday, in the cases of West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox. The result of the cases will determine whether 27 states can keep laws in place that prevent men from entering women’s sports, and could impact laws protecting women’s privacy in bathrooms and other spaces.
“Women&#8217;s rights are under attack by the radical Left. As Republican Attorneys General, we are committed to doing everything we can to protect them. Women and girls should feel safe in the locker rooms and have the opportunity to participate in fair competitions,” said Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen.
Gaines, the University of Kentucky swimmer who rose to national prominence for speaking out after being forced to compete against male University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, said she was “pissed” off that the country had reached the point where it was even a debate whether women can have their own sports teams.
“I&#8217;m pissed off that we&#8217;ve reached a point where we seemingly have an entire political party who has diminished and erased our rights as women. That&#8217;s exactly what this is. Don&#8217;t let them frame it any other way,” Gaines said.
As Gaines noted, the case will not determine whether states must keep sports teams separate by sex, but whether states are allowed to do so.
“We are fighting for the bare minimum here,” she said. “Can we allow ourselves to be vulnerable in an intimate area of undressing such as a locker room without having to fear a man walking into that space? Can we do those things?”
Oral arguments in the case will start at 10 a.m. and are expected to last several hours.

Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Holds Rally In Bozeman, Montana

‘Fighting For The Bare Minimum’: Riley Gaines Speaks Out Before SCOTUS Trans Case

Courts

Idaho

West Virginia

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear a case about trans-identifying boys participating in girls’ sports. A West Virginia law is at the center of the hearing.
The Daily Wire has been at the forefront of the battle over gender ideology. Exhibit A: Matt Walsh’s groundbreaking documentary What Is A Woman?
It’s one thing for an adult to fight the good fight and entirely another for an eighth-grade girl to take a stand.
They say this case will affect laws in 27 states. But it’s already directly affected the life of one young girl in West Virginia.
Here she is in her own words. — Joel Kneedler
* * *
Eighth grade. The year when most girls are making core memories with friends and preparing for that exciting, albeit scary, transition to high school. But for me, that year was frustrating and uncomfortable.
As a young female athlete, I lost out on the opportunity to compete in West Virginia’s Mid-Mountain Championship track-and-field meet and had to endure sexually harassing comments from a male athlete who was allowed to join the girls’ team at my middle school.
Now, I’m 17 years old and eagerly looking to the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears — for the first time — why it should protect female athletes and affirm the biological reality that boys and girls are different.
<div id="attachment_1026433" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1026433" class="size-large wp-image-1026433" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II-864x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Adaleia Cross." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II.jpg 900w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Adaleia Cross.</div>
The Court is considering two cases: <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/bpj-v-west-virginia-state-board-education/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">one</a> being litigated by Attorney General JB McCuskey of my home state of West Virginia and <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/little-v-hecox/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">another</a> led by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador. Both states are joined by legal counsel from Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented me in other cases. These states enacted laws to restore common sense, fairness, and safety in women’s sports. Shortly afterward, however, activists who believe that boys should be able to compete against girls challenged both laws. The lawsuit in my state was brought on behalf of the male athlete competing on my girls’ track-and-field team.
That athlete displaced 423 different girls 1,100 times and took 57 medals from them. Those young women will never get those opportunities back. And that’s just one athlete. Other girls and women across the country, from middle school to college to the Olympics, continue to tell their stories of bravely choosing to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-female-fencer-and-trans-supporting-usa-fencing-head-face-off-at-heated-doge-hearing">forfeit games</a> or matches in defense of biological truth. Or they talk about the heartache of losing to males who take roster spots and stand on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cheated-betrayed-and-violated-riley-gaines-reflects-on-journey-to-protect-girls-sports?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Cheated%2C+Betrayed%2C+And+Violated%E2%80%99%3A+Riley+Gaines+Reflects+On+Journey+To+Protect+Girls+Sports">winner podiums</a> meant for girls.
Until April 2023, I was in the top three on my team for discus in both seventh and eighth grade. I was usually in the top three or four for shot put as well. But that changed when the male started beating me.
It felt strange to be kicked out of my events because I had always gotten to compete before. I felt angry and discouraged that a male athlete took my spot. But I also felt like I couldn’t say anything about it. If I complained, I was made to feel like the problem for feeling uncomfortable and recognizing the unfairness. I felt like I had to suck it up and live with it. I felt unheard and unseen.
It’s extremely frustrating to know that no matter how hard I work, I will not be able to throw farther than the male athlete. Being excluded from a competition before it even begins is discouraging; I am obviously not as strong and athletic as most boys my age. It makes me so angry that I do not even have a chance to win. I want to scream, “Why am I even here?”
In fact, I’ve decided not to compete in track and field in high school because of the male athletes’ participation. 
It’s frustrating that I have to give up the sport I love — and excel at — because school officials have allowed males to compete with the girls. A male’s belief about his gender doesn’t erase the physical advantages over females.
Losing opportunities to compete at higher levels is very frustrating, but even worse was having to endure the athlete’s sexual, vulgar comments directed at me. Not to mention having to share a locker room. No girl should be forced to change in front of a boy or share such intimate spaces with the opposite sex.
In sports, biology matters. In life, it does too.
Gender ideology is full of lies that hurt real people. Believing that a male can erase physical differences with drugs impacts so much more than just girls’ sports. Women deserve their own spaces. Men don’t belong in women’s showers, restrooms, locker rooms, overnight school trips, prisons, or shelters.
All this weighs heavily on my heart, not just for me, but for my little sister, who is an incredible athlete.
<div id="attachment_1026429" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1026429" class="size-large wp-image-1026429" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14-864x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Adaleia Cross." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14.jpg 900w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Adaleia Cross.</div>
It’s not true that a man can be a woman. If we want a society that respects women, we must accept that reality. Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women. We can’t go backward. 
 
I may only be one voice from West Virginia, but I know I stand on the shoulders of trailblazers who have championed women’s rights for years. And today, I join a new chorus of women — we’re young and paying attention. We’re also grateful for this incredible opportunity to ask the Supreme Court to listen to our stories and allow states to defend biological reality, fairness, and female athletes.
 * * * 
 
Adaleia Cross is a West Virginia high school student.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
<h3>WATCH: Matt Walsh’s “What Is A Woman?” on DailyWire+</h3>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman?elementPosition=3&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Featured&amp;rowType=Portrait+Show+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-805851" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/MixCollage-01-Oct-2024-04-20-PM-2436-1024x576.jpg" alt="What is a Woman?" width="1024" height="576" /></a>

MixCollage-12-Jan-2026-08-52-AM-2830

I’m One Of The Girls Title IX Was Meant To Protect

gender ideology

High School

Middle School

SCOTUS

Sports

Transgender

<div>
President Donald Trump revealed plans this week for a new nationwide athletic competition dubbed the “Patriot Games,” a four-day event set for next year that will feature elite high school athletes from every state and U.S. territory. The announcement came alongside the launch of &#8220;Freedom,&#8221; an organization tasked with coordinating celebrations marking the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.
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<div>
According to Trump, the Patriot Games will bring together two standout athletes from each state — one male and one female — to compete in a slate of sporting events designed to showcase excellence, patriotism, and fair competition. The president framed the event as both historic and culturally significant, emphasizing that it would reflect his administration’s broader push to protect women’s sports.
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<div>
Trump said in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxdWW2CiB_8">video announcement</a>: “Frankly, you&#8217;ll never see anything like it, and you&#8217;ll never see anything like it again. In the fall, we will host the first-ever Patriot Games, an unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory. But I promise there will be no men playing in women&#8217;s sports. You&#8217;re not going to see that. You&#8217;ll see everything but that.”
</div>
<div>
The comments echo Trump’s long-standing opposition to allowing biological males to compete in female athletic divisions, an issue that has become a defining cultural flashpoint. His administration has repeatedly moved to restrict transgender-identifying men from competing in women’s sports.
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<div>
The Patriot Games will be part of a larger slate of events planned to commemorate the nation’s milestone anniversary. As The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5655553-trump-patriot-games-2026/">reported,</a> those celebrations will also include a “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall featuring exhibits from all 50 states, scheduled from June through July; a major Independence Day celebration complete with fireworks and a military flyover; and a high-profile Ultimate Fighting Championship event slated to take place at the White House.
</div>
<div>
Trump said the festivities are meant to be both celebratory and unifying. “People are going to have a good time,” he said, noting that recent events honoring the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps anniversaries were just the beginning.
</div>
<div>
With the Patriot Games, Trump is pitching a blend of athletic competition, national pride, and cultural clarity — positioning the event as a one-of-a-kind spectacle that aligns sports with what he describes as common-sense American values.
Trump’s announcement quickly drew loose comparisons to The Hunger Games, a dystopian novel set in a future America where the government forces young people from different districts into a televised fight to the death until only one survives.
</div>

President Trump Signs Executive Order Reclassifying Marijuana As Low Risk Drug

Trump Launches ‘Patriot Games’ To Showcase Top High School Athletes From Every State

Donald Trump

Executive

Politics

For some states, getting men out of women&#8217;s sports has more hurdles to clear than a track meet.
Take Colorado, which allows transgender-identifying boys to compete in girls’ sports in the name of protecting people’s “sexual identity.&#8221;
But that could soon change.
Colorado School District 49, located just outside of Colorado Springs, is leading a coalition of seven other districts that are challenging the law. The districts filed suit in May against the Colorado Civil Rights Division, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the Colorado Attorney General, and the Colorado High School Activities Association.
Last week, the Colorado High School Activities Association settled with the plaintiffs, a major victory for girls’ sports.
District 49 felt a lawsuit was necessary after it <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/co/d49/Board.nsf/files/DG6NV961B96D/$file/JBA-%20Preserving%20%20Fairness%20and%20Safety%20in%20Sports%20(1).pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adopted rules</a> last year requiring all school sports teams to be divided by biological sex. District 49 Superintendent Peter Hilts, said he made clear rules on biology for his school district after he noticed more incidents of men trying to compete as women around the country. District 49 filed their lawsuit May 9, 2025, to protect the district from any penalties brought on by Colorado’s sports governing body.
&#8220;I would never want my daughters to compete against a boy; that would be unfair,&#8221; Hilts told The Daily Wire.
The settlement with the association takes the Colorado High School Activities Association out of the lawsuit ongoing in Colorado federal court, and gives the eight districts protection from the association.
The <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-wCHCb3a08XDl8FkBAtPeOuuccyWn9yv4oL7bUO-_7E/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.onkuqxh2a5uu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">association&#8217;s bylaws</a> state that &#8220;member schools shall ensure that all students have equal access and opportunities to participate in activities and athletics without unlawful discrimination based on disability, race, creed, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, national origin, or ancestry.&#8221;
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t want a state agency to sanction our coaches or our student-athletes for advocating privacy, fairness, and dignity.&#8221;
Hilts says the settlement is a win for common sense.
&#8220;Before the settlement, they would have to self-censor, or worry about what would happen if they spoke out about men competing in women’s sports,” Hilts said. “The association could have taken action against coaches. They could have said coaches and athletes were being unsportsmanlike. They could have banned teams from postseason play, and they could have disqualified athletes from championships.”
The Colorado High School Activities Association told The Daily Wire it has &#8220;has never penalized a school or district for its policies on this issue, nor has it dictated what those policies should be.&#8221;
“At no point before filing this lawsuit did the plaintiffs engage in any dialogue with CHSAA,” a spokesman told The Daily Wire. “No outreach was made to inquire about our policies, our procedures, or the steps we had already taken to support schools navigating these issues.”
“This litigation consumed time and resources without producing any change to how CHSAA operates,” the spokesman continued, adding that “The settlement alters nothing about our policies, our practices, or our authority.”
The lead attorney representing School District 49, Michael Francisco, told The Daily Wire he hopes this settlement will encourage other districts to adopt policies that protect the integrity of sport.
&#8220;To our mind, CHSAA’s decision to settle leaves it to Colorado districts as to whether they want to adopt a policy governing biological sex in sports like the plaintiff districts,&#8221; Francisco said.
Hilts hopes a victory in federal court will result in President Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive order</a> keeping men out of women’s sports being reflected in Colorado’s laws.
&#8220;We observed that under the Trump administration, the interpretation of Title IX created a contrast between state and federal law,” he said. “Colorado law gives precedence to gender identity, but Title IX was designed to give priority to biological sex. We think the state has been overly accommodating of the minority of individuals who want to compete outside their biological sex instead of protecting the thousands of other athletes.”
“We want the state to protect opportunities for all student-athletes,” he added. “Stop threatening and expecting school districts to defy common sense.&#8221;
Hilts said he is confident in the districts&#8217; case against the state to make Colorado a place where every athlete has a fair opportunity to compete.
&#8220;We would celebrate a ruling that the federal interpretation of Title IX is the correct interpretation. Common sense is girls should compete against girls and boys should compete against boys,&#8221; Hilts said.
The plaintiffs were back in federal court Monday to argue against the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case.  A decision on that motion is now pending.

More Than A Game

Colorado Schools Win Major Battle In Fight To Protect Girls’ Sports

Colorado

Lawsuit

Get ready to flush idiocracy down the drain because public bathroom signs matter again in Texas.
<a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/pdf/SB00240I.pdf">The Texas Women&#8217;s Privacy Act</a>, or &#8220;bathroom bill,&#8221; went into effect Thursday. It requires you to do your business in the bathroom that matches your biological sex.
State Senator Mayes Middleton wrote the bill to save female multiple-occupancy private spaces in Texas, including restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms, from being invaded by men.
&#8220;This is the strongest women&#8217;s privacy law in America,&#8221; Middleton told The Daily Wire. “I defeated the woke left&#8217;s radical gender ideology to protect Texas women and children’s safety.&#8221;
He believes the gendered symbols that have long identified which restroom to use for decades finally have a purpose again.
&#8220;This bill restores those boundaries and makes them enforceable,&#8221; Middleton said.
The bill also requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to house inmates according to their biological sex and domestic violence shelters made for women to only serve women and their children.
&#8220;These are boundaries that have existed for generations. They are boundaries based on biological truth. Boundaries based on Biblical truth.&#8221;
Women across the country have been fighting for more laws like the one in Texas. Just last month, a woman in California went viral for complaining about men being in the women&#8217;s locker rooms at her gym. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-tish-hyman-the-california-lesbian-fighting-to-keep-men-out-of-womens-locker-rooms">Tish Hyman</a> has since put pressure on her state leaders in California to keep women safe.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/answer-straight-tish-hyman-crashes-swalwells-town-hall-demands-answer-on-men-in-womens-spaces">‘Answer Straight!’: Tish Hyman Crashes Swalwell’s Town Hall, Demands Answer On Men In Women’s Spaces</a>
Another victim of men wrongfully invading women&#8217;s spaces is Payton McNabb. During a high school volleyball game, she was knocked unconscious by a man playing on the opposing women&#8217;s volleyball team. McNabb, now ambassador at Independent Women&#8217;s Voice, is thrilled Texas has chosen to stand up for women.
&#8220;A big win for basic privacy and common sense,&#8221; McNabb said. &#8220;With the Texas Women’s Privacy Act officially going into effect today, I’m thinking about the girls who will never have to go through what I did. Seeing these protections taken seriously is a reminder of what good leadership looks like.&#8221;
The law imposes civil penalties up to $125,000 per day. People can file complaints with the state&#8217;s attorney general, who issues the penalties.
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The bill includes some exceptions, such as allowing entry for custodial, maintenance, medical, or childcare purposes.
The Texas Women&#8217;s Privacy Act is a victory for the state&#8217;s lawmakers who have fought for this protection since the first bills were introduced in 2017. Now with the law in effect, <a href="https://texasscorecard.com/state/gov-abbott-signs-womens-privacy-act-into-law/">Texas Scorecard</a> reports the state joins 19 others that have legislation protecting women in locker rooms and bathrooms.

Photo-illustration: Getty Images; Daily Wire staff

Texas Takes Back Bathrooms As New Law Bans Men From Using Women’s Facilities

Texas Takes Back Bathrooms As Law Requiring Biological Gender Use Goes Into Effect

Texas

Sixteen-year-old Washington state basketball player Frances Staudt has emerged as one of the most forceful young voices challenging the state’s Democratic leadership over policies she argues endanger girls’ sports and punish dissent.
After refusing to compete against a transgender player she described as a “quite obvious” male, Frances found herself under investigation by the Tumwater School District and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association for “misgendering”—an action that prompted a <a href="https://www.fairforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Civil-Rights-Complaint_Tumwater-Schools.pdf">federal civil-rights complaint</a> on her behalf earlier this year.
The district, citing state law, insisted it would not “discriminate based on sexual identity” while acknowledging that families hold divergent views. But according to Frances, the message from school officials was far harsher: her concerns “did not matter,” and acknowledging biological sex was off-limits.
At a recent event supporting two “Let’s Go Washington” initiatives aimed at restoring protections for female athletes, Frances delivered a blistering speech accusing Washington’s highest Democratic officials of abandoning girls to ideological pressures. She described escalating social retaliation—public condemnation from staff, online harassment, threats against her family—and said adults privately expressed support but were too afraid to speak.
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Her criticism reached its apex in the passage below:
<blockquote>
Let me end by saying this: Governor Ferguson, (state superintendent) Chris Reykdal, and (state attorney general) Nick Brown, we see right through you. And what we see is gutless men trying to stifle the voices of young women. I may be 16 years old, but I have way more guts than you&#8217;ll ever have.  We&#8217;re not going to stand for it anymore. I&#8217;m calling your bluff, and I&#8217;m exposing the lies that you tell over and over, and I refuse to share my locker room with the boys and men or be kicked out or punished for doing so. I will not be stopped, and what you&#8217;ve done to me is wrong.
</blockquote>
Staudt called on voters and President Donald Trump to intervene, saying, “We need you, President Trump, to please put these out-of-touch politicians in their place and stop this nonsense. I won&#8217;t stop.  Thank you. I won&#8217;t stop, and I&#8217;m asking everyone listening to fight with me. Fight, fight, fight. We will not stand down.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: Tumwater High School girls basketball player Frances Staudt joined Let&#8217;s Go WA&#8217;25 signature gatherers in Issaquah, WA over the weekend. 
Staudt is part of a growing movement in the state to ban biological boys from girls sports. 
Here is her speech in full. 🧵👇 <a href="https://t.co/49ygUZk4zE">https://t.co/49ygUZk4zE</a> <a href="https://t.co/w2X5S8Jkya">pic.twitter.com/w2X5S8Jkya</a>
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) <a href="https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/1993019359414174024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Americans Await Results In 2024 Presidential Election

‘Gutless Men’: Teen Athlete Blasts Washington State Democrats For Failing To Protect Girls’ Sports

Democrats

Washington State

The 2025 World’s Strongest Woman competition in Arlington, Texas, erupted into controversy after American competitor Jammie Booker — who won the Official Strongman Games World Championship over the weekend — was stripped of the title on Tuesday after organizers said Booker failed to disclose that he is a man.
Booker was disqualified for violating the rules that mandate contestants compete in the division matching the sex they were born as.
&#8220;It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women&#8217;s Open category,&#8221; organizers explained. &#8220;Strongman officials were unaware of this fact ahead of the competition and we have been urgently investigating since being informed.&#8221;
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&#8220;Had we been aware, or had this been declared at any point before or during the competition, this athlete would not have been permitted to compete in the Women&#8217;s Open category.&#8221;
Booker claimed gold while British powerhouse Andrea Thompson, a former champion and one of the most respected figures in the sport, stepped off the podium muttering “this is bullsh*t,” according to multiple witnesses.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Never happens.
Andrea Thompson just had her title stolen by a man, Jammie Booker, who won 1st at the World’s Strongest Woman competition in Arlington, Texas.
“This is bulls&amp;@$. Can we go?” <a href="https://t.co/y8JakhMNQL">pic.twitter.com/y8JakhMNQL</a>
— XX-XY Athletics (@xx_xyathletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/xx_xyathletics/status/1993156745024381036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Within hours, her coach, former strongman Laurence Shahlaei, declared Thompson the real 2025 champion, praising her dominance in the deadlift, log press, and circus dumbbell. “Sport is sport,” he wrote. “Women’s classes exist for a reason.”
Three-time World’s Strongest Woman Rebecca Roberts ignited the backlash further, saying that no athletes or organizers knew about Booker’s background. A resurfaced 2017 YouTube video appearing to show Booker describing herself as a “21-year-old trans woman” fueled those concerns.
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Roberts posted a blunt statement alongside a “Protect Women’s Sports” image, insisting she held “no hate toward transgender people” but warned that strength sports cannot ignore biological realities. “Women’s divisions must remain biologically female-only,” she wrote, calling Thompson the true champion. Thompson liked the post.
Other top athletes echoed the sentiment. Three-time champion Donna Moore called Thompson the “true winner,” while 2023 World’s Strongest Man Mitchell Hooper blasted the result in a video after watching the event live. “The first time I saw Jammie, I said: ‘This woman looks different,’” Hooper said, noting Booker appeared several inches taller and roughly 80 pounds heavier than any competitor. “There is a time when you have to take a stand for women’s sports.”
Even Booker’s own sponsor, Iron Ape, cut ties before he was disqualified, saying it had “reason to believe” Booker misrepresented critical information to the Official Strongman Games, stressing the decision was about integrity, not identity.
American strongwoman Morgan Irons said Booker’s participation cost women prize money, podium spots, national bids, and a pro card, adding Booker allegedly raised travel funds “under false pretenses.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Female lifter SLAMS Jammie Booker, a male, for stealing a woman’s place and title in the women’s power competition.
“If we do not come together and fight this, we will be erased, and everything that women have fought tooth and nail for will be void. I urge you to stand with… <a href="https://t.co/ziAc47jP4u">https://t.co/ziAc47jP4u</a> <a href="https://t.co/tLoWkXvSQa">pic.twitter.com/tLoWkXvSQa</a>
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1993217237356851274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Booker thanked competitors and organizers on social media after winning, saying the outcome wasn&#8217;t expected. His Instagram account, which featured videos of him lifting, is now set to private.

Image 11-25-25 at 10.57 AM

World’s Strongest Woman Winner Stripped Of Title After Organizers Find Out He’s A Man

Three years ago, NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines declared October 10 “XX Day,” an opportunity to celebrate female athletes who refuse to bow to radical left-wing gender ideology. 
This October 10, the XX-XY Athletics Fund announced several new 2025 Courage Wins Champions from a group of young women who hail from two of the most radical states in the nation, Oregon and California.
These female athletes didn’t just talk about fairness in sports. They put their names, reputations, and safety on the line to defend it.
They are high school athletes with no publicists or powerful sponsors backing them up. But despite the mainstream media and other powerful forces opposing them, these athletes stood proudly for the truth.
Jennifer Sey, the founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, says that deep personal conviction is contagious. 
“At a time when threats and bullying have escalated to violence, we are more determined than ever to use our voices and to reward those brave enough to use theirs to stand up for truth and biological reality,” Sey told The Daily Wire of the new winners.
“We need more speech, not less,” she added. “So we’re doubling down and awarding more winners than ever.” Sey added that these athletes are fighting “giants” like Nike and California Governor Gavin Newsom from “ground zero of the battle for fairness in sports.”
She went on, “It’s also notable that today is the deadline for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to honor the sex-based rights of women in his state or cave to ideological bullies’ demands. He’s a coach and he knows the realities of sport. Young athletes like Kendall Kotzmacher are saving the day so high school girls won’t be erased and humiliated in their own sport.”
“By acknowledging and celebrating these brave young women, we hope to encourage more to stand up in defense of women’s sports as well,” Sey concluded.
Oregon is a state where track and field reigns supreme and where Nike, one of the most aggressively “gender progressive” sports brands, is headquartered. This is where five high school girls made a stand that challenged their state’s athletic programs.
Reese Eckard, Maddie Eischen, and Sophia Carpenter refused to compete against a male athlete at the Chehalem Track and Field Classic last spring. They knew it might cost them friends, rankings, and potentially their athletic futures, but they did it anyway.
<div id="attachment_983855" style="width: 738px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-983855" class="size-large wp-image-983855" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson-728x576.jpg" alt="Alexa Anderson" width="728" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson-728x576.jpg 728w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson-300x237.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson-768x607.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" />XX-XY Athletics</div>
“I am so grateful for the support XX-XY Athletics has given me as I speak out for fairness in girls’ sports.   I’ve gained so much courage from the other athletes here in Oregon who are also standing up for equal opportunity. Thank you to XX-XY for empowering me to share the truth. Together, our message becomes even stronger,” Eckard said in a statement. 
Their act of defiance sparked something bigger. When All-American runner Sophia Castañeda, the fastest female sophomore in Oregon history in the 400m, lost to a male athlete and was bullied for speaking up, she joined forces with the others. Together, they filed suit against the Oregon Schools Athletic Association.
<div id="attachment_983857" style="width: 777px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-983857" class="size-large wp-image-983857" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda-767x576.jpeg" alt="Sophia Castaneda" width="767" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda-767x576.jpeg 767w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda-768x577.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda.jpeg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 767px" />XX-XY Athletics</div>
And that’s not all. In a now-viral image, Alexa Anderson and Eckard can be seen stepping off the podium after a male competitor was crowned the girls’ state high jump champion. 
“I just didn’t think that it’s fair to biological females to allow and encourage biological males to compete among us, not only for myself and the other girl that stepped down, but the girl who should have been on the podium and the girl who didn’t even get to go to state because she was beaten by a biological male at districts,” Anderson said. 
“It is not about hate or transphobia at all. It’s about protecting women’s rights and their right to fair and equal competition within sports,” she said.
These are high schoolers fighting the same multi-billion-dollar sports industry that silenced adult Olympians. Their courage didn’t just win applause. It earned them the title of 2025 Courage Wins Champions.
Over in California, the ideological capital of this cultural madness, Governor Newsom’s administration is suing the federal government to preserve policies that force girls to compete against biological males. 
At Jurupa Valley High School, three teenage girls, including sisters Alyssa and Madison McPherson and their teammate Hadeel Hazameh, are refusing to play along.
<div id="attachment_983859" style="width: 506px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-983859" class="size-large wp-image-983859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh-496x576.jpeg" alt="Hadeel Hazameh" width="496" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh-496x576.jpeg 496w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh-258x300.jpeg 258w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh-768x892.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh.jpeg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 496px) 100vw, 496px" />XX-XY Athletics</div>
“Standing up for what’s right shows more strength than any win or medal ever could,” Hazameh said of their efforts.
They’ve faced everything from online harassment to physical intimidation to threats against their faith. Still, they joined a lawsuit against their school district and the California Department of Education, demanding what should never have been controversial: that girls deserve their own sports.
“It’s not always easy to speak up, but that’s what makes it so powerful. Taking a stand shows other girls that they can be strong, fearless and true to themselves,” Alyssa McPherson said.
Courage Wins Award winners receive up to $5,000 and a spot in a leadership program designed to help them continue speaking up without being punished financially or socially.
That’s the heart of what Sey and XX-XY Athletics are building: a movement that makes standing for truth possible again.
Previous honorees include Brooke Slusser, Lauren Miller, Payton McNabb, Emmy Salerno, Stephanie Turner, Sia Liilii, and the Lincoln Middle School Five, a group of middle schoolers who took on adults and won.
The girls honored this year didn’t ask to be activists; they were just seeking fair competition. But they were unafraid to call out injustice when they saw it, rather than going away quietly. 
The Goliaths they’re fighting, Nike, Newsom, and every screeching activist with a platform, should take note. Because these brave Davids are the new face of women’s sports. 
As Sey put it, “We’re not done yet.”

Reese Eckard

High School Girls Defy Nike And Newsom, Earn ‘Courage Wins’ Awards For Defending Women’s Sports

High School Girls Defy Nike and Newsom, Earn 'Courage Wins' Awards for Defending Women’s Sports

Athlete

KMD Brands, the parent company of the popular surf brand Rip Curl, posted an $82.9 million loss and will close 21 retail locations, per a report <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15127941/amp/Major-Australian-retailer-forced-close-stores-records-105millon-loss.html">from</a> The Daily Mail. Rip Curl generated $30.6 million in total revenue in FY25 before taxes, representing a 27% decrease in earnings from the previous year. 
This financial update follows the end of Rip Curl&#8217;s longtime partnership with pro surfer Bethany Hamilton and the release of a promotional clip featuring a transgender-identifying male, which led to boycotts.
The Australia-based KMD <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/09/24/kathmandu-rip-curl-owner-slumps-to-huge-full-year-loss/#:~:text=As%20for%20its%20individual%20businesses,New%20ZealandBusiness">said</a> on Wednesday that it had recently restructured its business in a move designed to save $5 million annually. The results for 2024-25 are significantly worse than those of the previous year, when the company posted a $48.3 million loss, according to 1 News in New Zealand. The outlet noted that the company has not been profitable since the 2014-15 fiscal year.
There is no explicit connection between the company’s poor financial performance and its push for transgender inclusion, but social media users have been pointing to the results as proof of the popular adage, “go woke, go broke.”
In January 2024, the international brand released a documentary ad featuring Sasha Jane Lowerson, a male competing in the women’s category for professional surfing, as part of its “Summer Looks Good on You” campaign. Lowerson <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-10836653/Aussie-trans-surfer-makes-history-winning-title-woman.html">previously competed</a> in the men&#8217;s surfing division under the name Ryan Egan until he began his “gender transition” in 2021.
The video received massive backlash, prompting Rip Curl Women to pull the ad just days later. 
“Our recent post has landed us in the divisive space around transgender participation in competitive sport. We want to promote surfing for everyone in a respectful way but … we upset a lot of people with our post and for that, we are sorry … The surfer featured has not replaced anyone on the Rip Curl team and is not a sponsored athlete,” the company <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C2ytzd6uAVz/">said</a> in a statement at the time.
Meanwhile, Hamilton, an outspoken Christian and critic of males competing in women’s sports, reacted to the promo by <a href="https://x.com/bethanyhamilton/status/1752051389344448993">posting</a> on X, “Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period.”
Hamilton is best known for losing her arm in a shark attack while surfing when she was 13 years old. But instead of letting the accident quell her love for the sport, she went on to compete into adulthood. Her incredible story was turned into both a book and the movie “Soul Surfer.” 
The pro surfer had previously come out against the World Surf League in 2023 when it adopted the International Surfing Association (ISA) policy on transgender participation in the sport. 
&#8220;This concerns me as a professional athlete that has been competing in the World Surf League events for the past 15-plus years,&#8221; Hamilton <a href="https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1622311329821245440">said</a> at the time. 
&#8220;I think many of the girls currently on tour are not in support with this new rule and they fear being ostracized if they speak up,&#8221; she went on. &#8220;We are seeing glimpses of male-bodied dominance in women&#8217;s sports like running, swimming, and others. I personally won&#8217;t be competing in, or supporting, the World Surf League if this rule remains.&#8221;
It’s unclear who initiated the break in sponsorship between Hamilton and Rip Curl, but there’s no denying that the two were at odds when it came to transgender activism. In October 2023, followers noticed that Hamilton’s surfboard, which was always covered in Rip Curl decals, had been stripped bare. 
Hamilton is now sponsored by PublicSquare, an online marketplace that shares her values.
While the exact situation between Hamilton and Rip Curl was never publicly addressed, social media was not kind to the surf brand after it was revealed that it had endorsed males competing in women’s sports.
“Imagine, dropping a phenomenal professional surfer, who survived a shark biting her arm off, only to replace her with a man who pretends to be a woman. Guess what my followers and I will be doing? We will all #BoycottRipCurl,” one person <a href="https://x.com/unhealthytruth/status/1751312157608751228">wrote</a> on X.

RipCurl

Rip Curl Earnings Plunge 27% After Boycotts Tied To Transgender Surfer Promotion

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