Amplifying the Legal Fight for Sex-Based Rights
Your Support is Fighting in the Courts Harder than Before!
It’s been a whirlwind year for our radical feminist efforts in the courts! Monumental decisions for women and girls are being made in our nation's highest courts.
There are enormous opportunities to set legal precedents to protect women’s free speech, safeguard children from irreversible medicalization, preserve single-sex sports, defend against compelled speech in the workplace, and curb the online distribution of sexual abuse images and videos to minors.
As the leading US radical feminist nonprofit, WoLF advances legal advocacy, which includes the filing of lawsuits, amicus briefs, and rulemaking petitions to restore, protect, and advance the sex-based rights of women and girls. The women of WoLF focus on some of the most egregious and largely ignored issues facing women and girls: gender identity ideology and commercial sexual exploitation.
Our Recent and Upcoming Legal Filings
Compelled Speech: Pronouns in Schools
In July, we submitted an amicus brief in Kluge v. Brownsburg Comm. School Corp. at the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of a teacher in Indiana who was forced to resign after not complying with the school’s policies regarding “preferred pronouns.”
Women’s Sports: Title IX Injunctions
Earlier this month, we submitted an amicus brief in Tennessee v. Cardona in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of one of the Title IX injunctions currently preventing the Department of Education’s misogynistic new rule from going into effect pending the case's outcome challenging the rule altogether. WoLF’s brief addresses single-sex private spaces in particular, cataloging encounters women and girls have had with males in female-only spaces in a variety of settings and the many harmful consequences that result.
We will submit briefs in October on the same topics for the other two upcoming Title IX injunction cases in the 5th and 10th Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Gender Identity at Work: Employment Discrimination
Also in October, we will be filing an amicus brief in Brown & Smith v. Alaska Airlines & Association of Flight Attendants to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal in support of two women who were fired for asking questions about or voicing opposition to the Equality Act (after being invited by their employer to do so). Women are frequently targeted for adverse action in the workplace when voicing concern about gender identity policies.
Irreversible Harm: Child Gender Medicine
Also in October, we plan to submit an amicus brief in United States v. Skrmetti, a US Supreme Court case attempting to overturn a Tennessee law banning sex-trait modification in children.
Commercial Sexual Abuse: Pornography Age-Verification
In November, we will submit an amicus brief in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton to the US Supreme Court in support of a Texas online porn age-verification law.
Compelled Speech: Pronouns in Courtrooms
The issue of “preferred pronouns” has been raised in Tremaine Carroll’s rape case, where the judge ordered the prosecutor in court to use female pronouns to refer to the alleged rapist. He objected and the judge is allowing him to file a brief in opposition, after which she will make a final decision. The rights of all litigants against compelled speech is a crucial issue that WoLF takes very seriously (which is why we filed an amicus brief in support of attorneys’ free speech).
Background: Amicus Briefs
An amicus (friend-of-the-court) brief allows someone not party to a legal case to weigh in with arguments because the issue would impact them. Through our amicus briefs, WoLF strives to influence courts in matters in which we have a strong interest: single-sex spaces, sex-based rights, women’s free speech and association, women’s sports, etc.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor describes amicus briefs as “scholarship” that significantly contributes to the judicial process:
Every justice is different, and scholarship is more important to some than others. My originalist colleagues believe [in] and like scholarship in their area. …You will see them citing lots of originalist scholarship in their decisions. [They] very actively read about new ways to interpret the Constitution and new ways to interpret legal principles that some of us believe have been well established. And so they actually actively look for and cite that scholarship, and you’ll see it amplify in the amicus briefs that are filed with us. Others like, for me personally, scholarship is very important when it’s an area of law that I don’t know a lot about. And so there’s where I’ll seek scholarship that helps sort of place the area of law in context, tell me what people are thinking about and why. And obviously, every good scholarship is trying to make a point and get you to think their way. I don’t necessarily have to buy into their way of thinking, but I do find it valuable to give me a perspective in areas that I know less about, and so I am looking for that.
These briefs can make a big difference by introducing feminist legal arguments into the court record—WoLF’s amicus briefs have been cited in multiple cases, evidencing our successful influence in the courts. State attorneys generals and a circuit judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have cited WoLF’s briefs.
As the highest authority court, the US Supreme Court only hears a small number of cases—about 80 per year, or 1% of the petitions it receives—and its rulings have the full force of law. Thus, WoLF prioritizes amicus brief submission opportunities to defend sex-based rights in the nation’s highest courts, especially the US Supreme Court.
You Can Expand Our Capacity to Fight
This small window of time presents significant opportunities and an enormous challenge. There are additional cases docketed that need a nonpartisan challenge to gender ideology and other sex-based wrongs. This is where your support can close the gap to defend ‘sex’ in law and policy.
Legal advocacy requires experts with extensive education and licensing. Further, WoLF-allied attorneys risk careers, licenses, and deplatforming by dedicating their efforts towards our mission to liberate women and girls from all forms of sex-based oppression. In the expansive legal landscape, there is always more demand than supply of these amazing legal experts. Now, more talented legal experts have heard our calls and responded right on time!
This past year, WoLF has significantly expanded our bench of legal expertise in service to our charitable mission. Justices, attorneys, regulators, paralegals, and legal researchers have contributed hours and hours of pro bono work for women and girls. They have done this because they believe in our mission to restore, protect, and advance women’s rights.
Bolster the Feminist Front Lines!
Our expanded legal capacity has TRIPLED the impact of our donors’ support—each dollar you donated that we spent on legal advocacy has leveraged three additional dollars of in-kind legal support. This is a stunning level of charitable efficiency!
WoLF has a wide base of small donors, as so many of you recognize this fight as paramount to preventing the erasure of women and girls. The average donation to WoLF is $58—no gift is too small in this battle for legal recognition of women and sex-based oppression! Thanks to our amazing legal volunteers, your $25 donation to WoLF is working as though it were a $75 donation!
Can we count on you to help us get through this autumn’s incredible docket of high court cases, where the rights of women and girls, compelled speech, women’s sports, employment law, and keeping children safe from pornography are all up for decision?
Note: Many of our supporters choose to give from their assets — stock gifts, grants from Donor-Advised funds, or Qualified Charitable Distributions from their IRAs. Please consider whether these “tax-smart” methods work better for you!
Aided by dedicated supporters like you, WoLF submitted fourteen amicus briefs between 2020 and 2024 - nearly 80% of all amicus briefs EVER filed by WoLF. Before 2024 ends, we are poised to file up to SEVEN more amicus briefs to break our record for the year - Most Briefs Ever Filed! Continuing this critical work is only possible through your support!
Read More: WoLF Amicus Briefs
