When voters in four states chose to protect girls’ sports this November, I thought about the girls I’ve met over the past few months. The girls in Sophie Cunningham jerseys, reaching out for high-fives. The girls at cross-country meets, watching adults debate whether their right to fair competition mattered. These victories were for them.
Since joining WoLF in June, I have found myself diving headfirst into protecting women’s and girls’ sports. As someone who had never really followed sports—except perhaps World Cup “football” (soccer to Americans!), especially when Italy, my mother’s home country, was playing—this was a crash course in the ins and outs of the games. Much to my own surprise, I came away with a newfound love of basketball. This work took me across the country after Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham spoke up for fairness in women’s sports and safety in girls’ locker rooms.
Alongside a wonderful group of allies, I attended WNBA games wearing our XX-XY shirts, offering Sophie our love and appreciation for speaking out. What stayed with me most were the young girls wearing her jersey, high-fiving us, sometimes visibly moved by the support. Some girls spoke out at rallies; they spoke about their own experiences competing with boys, and how hard the journey has been both from a fairness and safety standpoint, as well as the social isolation and pushback they received from peers and adults in their communities. It was heartwarming, but also troubling to realize how much a simple show of support could mean to girls who so often see their concerns dismissed.
One thing led to another, and soon I was attending National Women’s Soccer League games and high school cross-country meets here in Washington.
The professional games gave us a visible place to stand up for women’s sports. But the high school meets brought the consequences of these policies painfully close. A male student who had competed in the boys’ division earlier in the school year was now racing against girls, moving from placements in the 70s to the top ten in the female category.
Standing beside those courses, I kept thinking about the girls who had trained for those places. Their effort mattered. So did their disappointment. They deserved adults willing to acknowledge both.
That is why WoLF supported ballot measures protecting girls’ sports on the basis of biological sex. Finally, this November, the big win we were all waiting for! Voters approved all four initiatives: in Arizona, Nebraska, Washington, and Colorado. Two red states and two blue states reached the same conclusion.
To me, that is a powerful reminder that protecting girls’ opportunities is a nonpartisan responsibility. Turning it into a test of political loyalty has made it harder to listen to the girls themselves—and has done real harm along the way.
I am proud that WoLF stood with them, and deeply grateful to the athletes, parents, allies, advocates, activists, and voters who helped make these victories possible.
There is still work ahead. But I hope the girls who high-fived us in the stands, and those who spoke up beside the racecourses, take a moment to feel what this means. So many people heard them and voted to protect their opportunities.
After months of asking adults to listen, these girls deserve to know they were heard. This victory belongs to them, and we are celebrating with them, for them, and with a renewed commitment to stand beside them on every issue that affects their rights, safety, and future.