Soccer player at center of West Virginia transgender sports fight 'incensed' over Riley Gaines attack

Kaelan Deese

April 13, 07:00 AM April 13, 07:01 AM

EXCLUSIVE — A former soccer player at the center of a fight to protect West Virginia's law defending fairness in women's sports felt "incensed" after a mob of transgender protesters "brutally attacked" former swimmer Riley Gaines.

Former championship-winning West Virginia State University soccer player Lainey Armistead and her counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom are suing to protect the state's Save Women's Sports Act in court, which aims to prevent biologically male students who identify as transgender women from playing on female school sports teams.

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When asked about the recent violent protest at Gaines's San Francisco State University speech this week, which was in reaction to her objections to biological men competing in women's sports, Armistead told the Washington Examiner the reaction was both disturbing yet encouraging.

"I think that I was really disturbed by that but also encouraged because I saw how much support that Riley got throughout the whole thing. And I think that people are realizing that it's just shocking whenever a woman is brutally attacked and forced into a closet for three hours because she's speaking out for her rights to compete, and other women want to fight for that," Armistead said.

Gaines, who tweeted she was "ambushed and physically hit twice by a man" over the weekend, rose to fame for objecting to Lia Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania swimmer and a biological man who identifies as a transgender woman, competing against her in high-level swim competitions.

"This will not silence me," Gaines said of the mob protesting her speech. "When they want me to be silenced, it just means I need to speak louder."

Armistead, 23, also said the footage of Gaines made her "incensed," adding, "We want to fight, and we're ready to fight for our playing field."

She previously said she felt compelled to join ADF in the lawsuit when she found out the Save Women's Sports Act was being challenged in court.

Although the Supreme Court denied to take up the petition on April 6, Armistead's counsel vowed to "continue to fight" for women's rights to compete on a fair playing field, ADF legal counsel Rachel Csutoros told the Washington Examiner.

But through the Supreme Court's denial to take up the case, it allows biological men to play in women's sports while the lawsuit plays out in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas were the lone justices who wrote they would have allowed the state law to be enforced against the student.

Csutoros said ADF is filing new briefs to the 4th Circuit within a matter of weeks but said it could take several months before a panel on the court hears the case, noting, "We're going to go through the entire merits briefing."

"West Virginia's law ensures that it's consistent with Title Nine, and it is constitutional, and it's protecting women and girls and their ability to compete in sports," Csutoros said.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey backed the ADF's petition to protect the state's law and called the high court's denial a "procedural setback" despite maintaining confidence the case would succeed on the merits.

As many as 18 states have passed laws to protect female athletes from unfair competitors in their respective divisions, according to the Family Policy Alliance.

"I just think that with the state legislators continuing to create these laws, it shows how popular these laws are," Armistead said. "And we are very encouraged that these legislators are telling women that we matter and that we're important and that we don't just deserve equal opportunities in life, we also deserve them on the field."

Supreme Court could take first transgender sports case after appeal from West Virginia soccer player

Kaelan Deese

March 09, 02:35 PM March 09, 02:36 PM

A West Virginia soccer player's appeal to the Supreme Court could give the 6-3 conservative majority its first chance to weigh in on the contentious issue of transgender athletes in women's sports.

West Virginia State University soccer player Lainey Armistead and her counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom on Thursday are slated to ask the highest court in the land to lift an appeals court injunction against the state's Save Women's Sports Act, which aims to ban biological male students who identify as women from participating in girls school sports teams.

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"We are now asking SCOTUS to vacate that unreasonable and incorrect injunction," West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said during a press conference Thursday.

The law was passed in 2021 but was subject to litigation by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented Becky Pepper-Jackson, a transgender middle school student who was blocked from participating with the girls cross-country team. The ACLU contends the law violated the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and Title IX, a federal statute prohibiting sex-based discrimination.

A district court earlier this year ruled in favor of the West Virginia law, saying it was constitutional and consistent with Title IX, which shields against sex-based discrimination.

The ACLU appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and requested an injunction, meaning the law is currently halted while the lawsuit unfolds.

"We know that we should win on the merits. We know that the original district court judge put in place an injunction that ultimately changed his mind and agreed with us that the law is constitutional," Morrisey said, adding that's why the state and ADF believe the Supreme Court will "ultimately lift the injunction."

Armistead decided to become a party in the case on behalf of herself and other female athletes, saying the ACLU's defense of Pepper-Jackson threatens her ability to compete fairly.

"I never dreamed this would be an issue in West Virginia," Armistead said in a statement. "Whenever I heard about the Connecticut lawsuit or just the girls losing out, I was really devastated for them because I know how much work all these athletes have put into their individual sports."

The Connecticut lawsuit surrounded three high school female track and field athletes who sued the state after being forced to compete against a transgender woman and claimed to miss out on several scholarship opportunities, as well as athletic recognition awards. That lawsuit has been ongoing for five years and is still playing out in lower courts.

Morrisey said the appeal to the Supreme Court is expected to become finalized later this afternoon.

The Washington Examiner contacted the ADF and ACLU for a response.