A few years removed from their graduations, former college athletes Lainey Armistead and Madison Kenyon may now be on the verge of the biggest wins of their respective NCAA careers.
With the US Supreme Court’s decision this week to review lower court rulings favoring transgender athletes in Idaho and West Virginia, the women and their attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom will have a chance this fall to impact gender policies across several states, if not the entire country.
The cases, State of West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, both center on transgender athletes participating in female sports – something Armistead, Kenyon and their attorneys hope to ban in order to preserve opportunities for women and girls.
‘It really means that we are having a chance to be heard,’ Armistead told Daily Mail in a group call with Kenyon and attorney Jonathan Scruggs from the ADF. ‘It has been quite a few years that we have been fighting for this, and in the meantime, many women have been displaced.
‘Many women have lost their scholarships opportunities, many women have lost their place on the podium, and really, the damage has been irreparable.’
As Scruggs sees it, the court’s decision to look at the cases is a chance to ‘restore common sense and protect fairness and safety in women’s sports’ by addressing the Constitution’s equal protection clause, which prohibits states from denying equal rights, and Title IX, which outlaws sex discrimination in education: ‘The court can combine all of it in one and resolve it in one go.’
Lainey Armistead is a former West Virginia State soccer player who joined a lawsuit aimed at reversing a court ruling that allowed trans athletes to compete in her state
Kenyon, a cross-country runner at Idaho State, has spent the last few years warning about transgender athletes in women’s sports after losing a 2019 race to Montana’s June Eastwood
A former cross-country runner at Idaho State University who is now a registered nurse, Kenyon has spent the last few years warning about transgender athletes in women’s sports after losing a 2019 race to Montana’s Juniper ‘June’ Eastwood, the first openly trans runner in Division I history.
At the time, Kenyon didn’t yet oppose the idea because she knew transgender athletes in female sports had to maintain low testosterone levels. But, as she told Daily Mail, her perception changed over the course of several races.
‘This individual had to go through certain protocol in order to do this, and that athlete beat me, beat all my teammates, and continued to have quite an impressive season over the next couple competitions,’ Kenyon said. ‘And just watching that and watching a teammate get bumped off the podium made me realize it’s not fair. And that’s kind of what inspired me to speak up and to get involved.’
Idaho became the first state to ban transgender women and girls from female sports in 2020 when another trans runner sued in hoping to join Boise State’s cross-country team. After the ACLU sued over Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, Kenyon and teammate Mary Kate Marshall joined that lawsuit as defendants with the help of the ADF.
‘I completely supported the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,’ Kenyon said. ‘I thought that it protected me as a woman and as an athlete and all of the other women in Idaho.
‘It gave us a free opportunity of fair competition, which is what sports needs, right? That’s the integrity of sports. You’re ruining the integrity when you make it unfair.’
After the ACLU sued over Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, Kenyon (right) and teammate Mary Kate Marshall (left) joined that lawsuit as defendants with the help of the ADF
Armistead was playing soccer for West Virginia State in 2021 when the state enacted a ban on transgender athletes, only for that law to be challenged in court. After the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted a stay motion, allowing trans athletes to play on girls’ teams, Armistead decided to join the lawsuit.
She hasn’t missed any opportunities because of trans athletes because, she told Daily Mail, the West Virginia ban prevented any such situation. But Armistead nonetheless became involved in the lawsuit because she wants to extend that protection to other girls and women.
‘I thought about my own, hopefully, future family and daughter,’ she said. ‘I would just say that other women’s courage has really inspired me, and the more courage and the more that people take stands, the more it’s the ball is moving in the right direction. And as we’ve seen, there’s been a lot of forward progressive movement this year, and I’m really excited to see where that goes.’
That forward progress, as they see it, includes the University of Pennsylvania’s decision to strip transgender former Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas of her records and apologize to her rivals under pressure from President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
‘It’s kind of empowering to see the Trump administration and somebody in a really influential position that is pushing this issue and supporting us,’ Madison said. ‘I don’t think it takes much to realize that there’s a difference between males and females… Instead, to see somebody at a high platform recognizing that, I think it’s amazing that we’re supported.’
Although they haven’t had any direct contact with the Trump Administration, both women say they believe the president is monitoring their cases.
This 2019 photo shows University of Montana cross country runner June Eastwood posing for a photo at Campbell Park in Missoula. Eastwood was the first trans runner in Division I
Critics of Trump’s crackdown on transgender athletes in female sports have argued that the problem is overstated. NCAA President Charlie Baker said in January that only about 10 openly transgender athletes were currently competing among the organization’s 510,000 student athletes.
Kenyon and Armistead, however, see any attempt to minimize the issue as misguided.
‘Even if it was just one athlete,’ Armistead said, ‘I know one athlete can displace so many people on the podiums, one athlete on a field of 11 girls in soccer can completely change the dynamics of the game, and it’s not just one athlete. It has been so many, but even if it was just one, why are we telling girls that you don’t matter?’
Others have criticized the movement to ban trans athletes from female sports as a political fig leaf used to demonize an already marginalized population. Eastwood, for one, described such bans as ‘political posturing’ in a 2021 interview with USA Today, adding that visibility and support are crucial for transgender teens.
‘I never would have wanted to be a world record holder as a (transgender) woman,’ Eastwood told USA Today. ‘But it’s important for lawmakers to understand why we transition in the first place: So we don’t contemplate suicide. My biggest worry is that these bills will marginalize and we’ll see an increase in trans suicides.’
The University of Pennsylvania’s decision to strip ex-Quakers swimmer Lia Thomas of her records is one move of many aimed at cracking down on trans athletes in women’s sports
But to both Armistead and Kenyon, the purpose of the lawsuit is to protect fairness while encouraging participation.
Neither want to see transgender people erased from public life, nor do they want to deny athletes opportunities.
‘This is just about fairness and safety for women and girls,’ Armistead said. ‘It has nothing to do with wanting to hide anyone. I don’t want anybody to be hidden from society, but I do want to make sure that the biological differences between men and women are respected.’
Her intentions notwithstanding, Armistead has faced intense criticism online – something she isn’t eager to discuss.
In some cases, Armistead even received ‘death threats’ but she says that’s ‘not really’ what she wants to ‘focus on.’
Instead, both she and Kenyon chose to emphasize the support they received from the ADF and the Trump administration, and their hope that their upcoming Supreme Court hearings will preserve opportunities for female athletes.
‘Everybody should have the opportunity to be in sports,’ Kenyon said. ‘It’s [got to be] fair, though, right? That’s our focus: women competing against women. And that’s the only way to keep women sports fair. And so any individual who wants to [stay] in sports, by all means, please do. Sports changed my life. I hope it changes their life. And I just hope that that’s done where it’s fair.’
