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A boy beat me on the rail and sexually harassed me. Biden thinks I’m the problem

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I started playing sports at an early age and have been active my entire life. I have tried most of the sports in my area such as soccer, swimming, cheer, dance, gymnastics, running and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. That’s what I love. But something I love has turned into a source of pain.

When I was in 7th grade, I joined my middle school track team to compete in throwing events, just like my parents did. But that same year, a sixth-grader, known in court documents as BPJ, joined the girls’ team. BPJ identifies as a girl. I was forced to compete against BPJ unfairly and use the same locker room as BPJ.

In my eighth grade year, BPJ began making extremely inappropriate comments to me and other girls that made me very uncomfortable. In any other situation, I would immediately report the comments to my school. But since BPJ identifies as transgender, I was worried that I would be labeled as transphobic and that would make the situation uncomfortable on my team. So I said nothing and tried to stay as far away from BPJ as possible.

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It did not work. I finally told my parents about the sexual harassment and we reported it to the school administration. But the school did nothing to change things or help me.

Adaleia Cross (center) at the Harrison County Middle School Championships held at the Mazzei Reaser Athletic Complex at Liberty High School in Clarksburg, WV on April 12, 2023.  (Photo courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom)

Adaleia Cross (center) at the Harrison County Middle School Championships held at the Mazzei Reaser Athletic Complex at Liberty High School in Clarksburg, WV on April 12, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom)

To make matters worse, I started losing repeatedly to BPJ. Everyone knows that boys are naturally taller, stronger and more muscular than girls. It’s scientifically clear. That’s why there are categories in sports just for girls.

On the athletics team, I took part in the shot put, discus, pole vault, 100 m run and 4×100 m events. I also stepped in wherever they needed me. I loved it.

But it kept getting worse. In April 2023, BPJ completely kicked me out of one of the throwing competitions I had competed in for two seasons. In most competitions, the athletes with the top three personal records compete in each championship event. Previously, BPJ had already replaced me in the top three in the shot put. I was still in the top three in the discus until the Mid-Mountain 10 meet near the end of the season.

Throughout the season, BPJ had changed physically – he became taller, his shoulders became broader, his voice became deeper, as is the case with a man going through puberty. My coach pulled me aside before the Mid-Mountain 10 meet and informed me that I was out of the throwing competition. BPJ, a man almost two years younger than me, had officially replaced me, a woman on the girls’ throwing team, in the competition.

On top of that, BPJ rubbed it in my face. He made me feel inferior. He insulted me because I threw shorter than him. It wasn’t enough to unfairly take my place. He had to belittle me.

Now the federal government is trying to rewrite Title IX — the law that gives women equal opportunities in education and sports — to remove protections for women and girls. This change would require schools to allow men who identify as women to share our locker rooms, bathrooms, showers and, inevitably, our sports teams. So what happened to me will not be an isolated incident. It could happen to girls all over the country.

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The government is trying to say its new change has no impact on sport. But if you redefine sex in Title IX to include gender identity and redefine what it means to be a woman, schools must allow male students who identify as female to join female teams.

Additionally, West Virginia had a state law protecting women’s sports and protecting me, but when BPJ challenged that law in court, the federal government sided with BPJ. The Justice Department said Title IX requires schools to allow BPJ to compete on women’s sports teams.

I finally told my parents about the sexual harassment and we reported it to the school administration. But the school didn’t do anything to change things or help me.

The government is just putting up a cover and hoping no one notices that this new rule is an attack on women’s sport.

None of this is fair or safe. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to other girls. So I decided I had to speak up. My family and I took legal action on Friday to challenge the government’s unlawful change to Title IX. With the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom, we hope to stop the federal government from furthering the erasure and unsafe treatment of girls and depriving us of our rights to privacy and fair play.

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It’s 2024 and I thought things would be equal for women – if I tried my best, I’d have a fair chance. But now, in the name of progress and diversity, the Biden administration is trying to take away my right to safety and my right to compete in sports. That’s not progress.

I’m speaking out because I’m afraid for my little sister and for girls across the country. No girl should have to endure sexual harassment or feel uncomfortable and afraid at school. No girl should have to compete in an unsafe and unfair system at school. I just hope my voice helps others see the truth because I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.