Washington Defies Trump Order While Female Wrestler Seeks Supreme Court Protection

Liberty Check

• Washington officials refuse to follow President Trump’s executive order protecting girls’ sports, prioritizing gender identity over biological sex.
• A female wrestler alleges she was sexually assaulted by a male competitor after state policy allowed him to compete in girls’ wrestling without notice.
• Parents are denied the right to know or opt out when their daughters face male athletes, stripping families of basic decision-making authority.

Washington state officials are digging in their heels against federal efforts to keep male athletes out of girls’ sports. The state’s superintendent and high school athletics association both confirmed they will continue allowing students to compete based on gender identity even as a Supreme Court appeal moves forward.

Kallie Keeler, a Puyallup-area wrestler, filed the emergency application seeking protection after she was allegedly sexually assaulted by a male opponent during a girls’ match in December. Neither she nor her mother was told beforehand that her competitor was male.

“While OSPI does not oversee athletics in our state, our office is responsible for communicating, upholding, and enforcing the law, including in student athletics and extracurricular activities,” the superintendent’s office stated. “OSPI will continue to uphold Washington’s current law unless or until the law changes.”

Superintendent Chris Reykdal openly rejected President Trump’s February 2025 executive order aimed at protecting female athletes. He called the federal directive an attempt to force schools to discriminate against transgender athletes and said Washington would not back down from its gender-identity policies.

“It is quite simply inaccurate to say, biologically, that there are only boys and there are only girls,” Reykdal declared. “There’s a continuum. There’s a science to this.”

Reykdal told school districts that students get to identify and participate based on whichever gender they claim, and his office would enforce that rule regardless of federal guidance. He dismissed concerns by claiming only five to ten students statewide identify as transgender.

“If we can’t accommodate the needs of five or 10 people,” he asked, “who are we?”

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association echoed the same position. “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,” the group stated.

Alliance Defending Freedom filed the Supreme Court application after both a federal judge and the Ninth Circuit denied emergency relief. The case argues that Washington’s gender-identity policy violates Title IX protections for female athletes and undermines parental rights.

Keeler has wrestled since age four but left the team after the alleged assault. She remains unsure about returning if state rules continue forcing her to compete against males without warning or the ability to opt out.

It’s time to push back.