<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A female high school wrestler in Washington has requested the Supreme Court to intervene in a lawsuit concerning the state's laws that permit biological males to compete in women's sports. This request comes as the court may issue a ruling on transgender sports policies following its June decision.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Kallie Keeler, a biological female wrestler, filed a lawsuit against Washington officials after alleging she was sexually assaulted by a biological male opponent during a high school girls’ wrestling tournament. She claims that the state’s policy allowing biological males to compete in women's sports violates Title IX. Keeler, represented by the conservative law firm Alliance Defending Freedom, sought to halt the policy or to allow her to opt out of competing against male athletes without penalty, but both lower courts denied her requests. The Supreme Court has been asked to grant her emergency petition, with her lawyers framing it as a matter of ensuring her safety while competing in women's sports.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the petition, Keeler's lawyers stated, “They demand that K.M.K. continue competing against males or sit out sports entirely. And they refuse to opt K.M.K. out of matches against males without penalty—or even to give Brown notice of such a match so she may opt K.M.K. out herself. The district court and Ninth Circuit declined to protect K.M.K. or empower her mother to protect her.” They urged the court to grant the application for an injunction pending appeal.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The petition also noted, “Absent an injunction, K.M.K. will be forced to miss the girls’ wrestling season that begins in November, losing the equal opportunity that Title IX guarantees.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Supreme Court has ordered Washington officials to respond to the petition by Tuesday at 4 p.m.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Earlier this year, the Supreme Court addressed state laws regarding transgender athletes, upholding a law that bars biological males from competing in women's sports by a 6-3 vote. This ruling supported laws in Idaho and West Virginia, as well as similar regulations in other states, which separate men's and women's sports based on biological sex. The majority opinion indicated that both the Equal Protection Clause and Title IX allow states to enforce such separations.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Supreme Court's June ruling in <em>West Virginia v. B.P.J.</em> did not resolve whether state laws permitting biological males to compete in women's sports violate Title IX, but this issue may be presented to the court in the future.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Keeler's emergency application asks the justices to consider whether gender-identity participation policies violate Title IX’s prohibition against treating females worse than males in sports, and whether a parent's right to direct their child's care includes the right to notice and opt-out before their child competes against male athletes in contact or competitive-skill sports.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The petition states, “From K.M.K. being sexually assaulted in a wrestling match, to two boys winning 15 state titles in the girls’ track-and-field division in Connecticut, to a boy pitching every inning en route to a state championship in girls’ softball in Minnesota, female athletes across the country are wrongly being denied the opportunity to fair and safe competition in sports while male athletes get to compete on boys’ teams and girls’ teams.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It is uncommon for the Supreme Court to accept an emergency petition for full oral arguments on the merits of a case, though it did so recently regarding the legality of the Trump administration’s third-country deportation policy.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In December, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in <em>International Partners for Ethical Care, Inc. v. Ferguson</em>, which concerns a law allowing runaway minors to receive transgender surgeries without parental consent, as well as exempting the state from notifying parents about their child's location and condition.</p>