Staff Reports
A West Virginia high school athlete went public with a story that should make every parent sit up. Adaleia Cross says a male student who was allowed to play on the girls’ track team sexually harassed her and made threats, and then the school and many of her peers turned on her when she spoke up. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling that males cannot play in women’s sports was a legal win, but for Adaleia it came after months of pain and ostracism.
Adaleia’s story: bravery met with silence
Adaleia has talked about being ignored by the very adults paid to protect her. She says a homeroom teacher told her she “sees [her] as less of a person” after Adaleia wore a Save Women’s Sports shirt. She also says the school promised an investigation that vanished without notice. The ACLU called the harassment claim false, but the Alliance Defending Freedom stands with Adaleia — and parents watching this play out aren’t comforted by the mixed messaging.
Locker room safety and fairness is not optional
Girls changed in stalls and avoided the locker room because they felt unsafe. That is not a cultural nuance; it is a basic safety problem. Meanwhile, the male athlete won a state championship just before the court stepped in — a hollow victory for school leaders who pretended competition and safety weren’t being harmed. Schools that treat ideology as more important than common-sense protections are failing students, plain and simple.
Silencing victims teaches the wrong lesson
Adaleia says she lost friends and faced hostility for speaking up. That’s how you train kids to keep quiet about real abuse: punish the brave and reward the bullies. The Supreme Court ruling helped win the legal argument for female athletes, but schools must still do the hard work of investigating complaints, protecting victims, and restoring fairness to teams and locker rooms. If administrators won’t do it, parents and communities must demand better.
Adaleia’s faith and courage carried her through this fight, and she deserves credit for speaking out. If we care about girls’ sports, safety in schools, or basic decency, we should stop pretending this is only a legal question and start fixing how schools handle these cases. That starts with listening to victims, conducting real investigations, and making sure athletes — all kids — can compete and change clothes without fear.
