{"id":30577,"date":"2026-01-20T11:55:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T16:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=30577"},"modified":"2026-01-20T11:55:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T16:55:24","slug":"riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports","title":{"rendered":"Riley Gaines Says Even a Supreme Court Win Won’t End Fight to Protect Women’s Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Gage Skidmore \/ commons.wikimedia.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Female athletes and advocates are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold what they describe as “common sense” protections for women’s sports, warning that even a favorable ruling will be just the beginning of a much larger battle.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, as justices heard oral arguments in cases from Idaho and West Virginia challenging state bans on trans-identified male athletes competing in women’s sports, supporters and opponents rallied outside the courthouse. Many of the women speaking out pointed to their Christian faith as the source of their conviction and courage in the debate.<\/p>\n

Riley Gaines \u2014 one of the most visible voices on the issue \u2014 told supporters she hopes the justices choose “common sense and truth,” but stressed that the court is not deciding whether states must protect women, only whether they can.<\/p>\n

“Even with a favorable ruling, I will tell you, it’s not enough,” Gaines warned. “Understand that the cases that are being heard are not to decide if states must protect us as women, if we must have rights to equal opportunity, to privacy and to safety. That’s not what it is. It’s if states even can. It’s the bare minimum that we’re fighting for.”<\/p>\n

She urged Americans to “fight for the states to continue to act” to protect female athletes, signaling a long-term cultural struggle beyond the legal one.<\/p>\n

More than two dozen states have already passed laws barring trans-identified males from competing in girls’ and women’s sports categories. If the Supreme Court ultimately rules against Idaho and West Virginia’s laws, similar bans in other states could be threatened.<\/p>\n

Several women at the rally shared firsthand stories of being forced to compete against or share locker rooms with male athletes.<\/p>\n

Brooke Slusser, a former volleyball player at San Jose State, said she was “put in harm’s way every single day” and eventually left school after discovering a male athlete had been placed in her living space. She recalled being dismissed as a “bigot” and a “hateful human being” simply for raising concerns and eventually moved back home to Texas due to the trauma of the experience.<\/p>\n

Others said the battle is not just about sports, but about biblical truth and God-given design. Sam Kelley, a former Connecticut athlete who now runs Fierce Athlete, said her advocacy is rooted in her Catholic faith. “I am passionate about this issue first and foremost because I am a Catholic Christian,” she said, adding that sports are meant to teach virtue, perseverance, and God’s intention for the body. “People are acknowledging God’s design. That He created us male and female and that that sexual difference is \u2026 beautiful and good and holy.”<\/p>\n

Stephanie Turner, a fencing athlete, said she prayed for strength before taking a knee in protest after years of what she called unfair competition. “I delayed registering for tournaments. I withdrew when male competitors entered women’s events,” she said. After being forced to compete last year, she said she could no longer stay silent.<\/p>\n

For younger athletes, the losses are personal and practical. Idaho runner Sara Casebolt said finishing behind a trans-identified male athlete cost her a chance at higher placements. “When the purpose of women’s sports is forgotten or ignored, it radically devalues opportunities,” she said, later urging Christians to “hold fast to truth,” quoting Jesus’ words in John that “the truth will set us free.”<\/p>\n

Selina Soule \u2014 one of the first high school athletes to speak out nationally on the issue \u2014 noted how much has changed since she began raising concerns in 2018. “I am just so grateful for all the incredible women that have since joined me in this fight,” she said. Soule, who once lost a regional qualifying spot because two male athletes claimed the top slots, said, “Women deserve to win in their own sports, not just earn a participation trophy.”<\/p>\n

While many speakers expressed hope that the Supreme Court will ultimately protect women’s sports, Gaines reminded supporters that legal decisions alone won’t settle the deeper question. The debate, she said, is ultimately about truth \u2014 and truth, Christians at the rally argued, is not up for negotiation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Female athletes and advocates are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold what they describe as “common sense” protections for women’s sports, warning that even a favorable ruling will be just the beginning of a much larger battle. On Tuesday, as justices heard oral arguments in cases from Idaho and West Virginia challenging state bans…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":30583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nRiley Gaines Says Even a Supreme Court Win Won't End Fight to Protect Women's Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Female athletes urge Supreme Court to protect women\u2019s sports, saying even a favorable ruling won\u2019t end the fight for fairness and truth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Riley Gaines Says Even a Supreme Court Win Won't End Fight to Protect Women's Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Female athletes urge Supreme Court to protect women\u2019s sports, saying even a favorable ruling won\u2019t end the fight for fairness and truth.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-20T16:55:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/01\/Riley-Gains_credit-Gage-Skidmore-commonswikimediaorg.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beliefnet Contributors\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Riley Gaines Says Even a Supreme Court Win Won't End Fight to Protect Women's Sports","description":"Female athletes urge Supreme Court to protect women\u2019s sports, saying even a favorable ruling won\u2019t end the fight for fairness and truth.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Riley Gaines Says Even a Supreme Court Win Won't End Fight to Protect Women's Sports","og_description":"Female athletes urge Supreme Court to protect women\u2019s sports, saying even a favorable ruling won\u2019t end the fight for fairness and truth.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports","og_site_name":"Beliefnet News","article_published_time":"2026-01-20T16:55:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/01\/Riley-Gains_credit-Gage-Skidmore-commonswikimediaorg.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beliefnet Contributors","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports","name":"Riley Gaines Says Even a Supreme Court Win Won't End Fight to Protect Women's Sports","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/01\/Riley-Gains_credit-Gage-Skidmore-commonswikimediaorg.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-20T16:55:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-20T16:55:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/450625ec20bf3e8a84060b9321455f3d"},"description":"Female athletes urge Supreme Court to protect women\u2019s sports, saying even a favorable ruling won\u2019t end the fight for fairness and truth.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/01\/Riley-Gains_credit-Gage-Skidmore-commonswikimediaorg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/01\/Riley-Gains_credit-Gage-Skidmore-commonswikimediaorg.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Gage Skidmore \/ commons.wikimedia.org"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/01\/riley-gaines-says-even-a-supreme-court-win-wont-end-fight-to-protect-womens-sports#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Riley Gaines Says Even a Supreme Court Win Won’t End Fight to Protect Women’s Sports"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/","name":"Beliefnet News","description":"Top Religious News From Around the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/450625ec20bf3e8a84060b9321455f3d","name":"Brandy Grenier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e53\/e53f6ea4c6b15081d4df68e2d7d7750ex96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/e53\/e53f6ea4c6b15081d4df68e2d7d7750ex96.jpg","caption":"Brandy Grenier"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/author\/bgrenier"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30586,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30577\/revisions\/30586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}