By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-06 00:07:10 | Updated at 2026-10-06 00:36:31
39 minutes ago
A Washington state high school wrestler asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 5 to intervene and allow her to wrestle on the girls’ team without having to face male athletes after she was allegedly sexually assaulted by one during a match.
The request came after video surfaced of the alleged assault involving the female athlete, named Kallie Keeler.
In an emergency application to the Supreme Court, Keeler alleged that the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association violated Title IX, a civil rights law that bars sex-based discrimination, by allowing male athletes to participate in girls’ sports.
Keeler is asking the Supreme Court to not only allow her to avoid competing against boys but also require that her mother receive notice if she could face any male athletes in a competition.
Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit representing Keeler, said in a press release on Oct. 5 that the policy “forces girls into unfair competition that threatens their safety.”
Without an injunction, her attorneys argued, Keeler would miss the season to avoid competing against males.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied Keeler’s requests last month, stating among other things that the situation wasn’t emergent since the wrestling season didn’t start until November.
It also said that Keeler’s request was too broad in that it sought “notice of all transgender athletes who could potentially compete against [her]” instead of just the particular student who allegedly committed the assault.
Multiple videos were taken of the incident.
A Title IX investigator wrote after reviewing two videos of the match, “The videos of the match show, by both the angle and observed force applied, that Respondent likely touched Complainant’s vagina with force in the first instance, such that it caused [Keeler] discomfort.
“Her contemporaneous reaction shown in the video corresponds with the Respondent’s hand and arm being between her legs, reinforcing the likelihood of being touched in such a way as to have caused discomfort.”
The U.S. Department of Education said in Feb. 2026 that it was opening an investigation into the alleged assault.
However, the district attorney declined to bring charges.
Keeler’s appeal came amid multiple Supreme Court decisions surrounding girls’ sports and parents’ rights.
Most notably, the Supreme Court allowed states in June to bar male participation in girls’ sports and rejected that doing so would violate Title IX.
When the Ninth Circuit addressed Keeler’s case, it said the Supreme Court ruling didn’t hold that allowing male participation would in itself violate Title IX.
It also rejected Keeler’s arguments that her mother should receive notice and an opportunity to opt her daughter out of the competition.
This argument was based in part on the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which said that a Maryland school district should provide notice to parents of storybooks with controversial content about gender and sexuality.
The Ninth Circuit said that case and another regarding parents’ rights didn’t apply to Keeler’s situation.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s 2025–2026 handbook states that “Athletes will participate in programs consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed.”
WIAA Director Sean Bessette stood by the policy in an email to The Epoch Times.
“The WIAA remains committed to following Washington State law, which permits student-athletes to participate in sports consistent with the gender with which they identify,” Bessette said.
“If state law changes in the future, the WIAA holds the authority to revise policies as necessary to remain in compliance with state law.”
Washington is currently considering Initiative 638, which would prohibit boys from participating in girls’ sports.
Sponsored by Let’s Go Washington, a political action committee, the measure will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
The group stated that Initiative 638 restores fairness to eligibility rules by prohibiting “biological men” from competing in female athletics.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington opposes the initiative.
ACLU-Washington said the measure would require annual sex verification procedures for all athletes participating in school girls’ sports.
The ACLU said existing state anti-discrimination laws and school athletic policies protect participation based on gender identity.
