A West Virginia high school student—who for the past four years has fought to protect female sports from male participation—says the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding her state’s laws to keep men out of women’s athletics is evidence of God’s faithfulness after He called her to stand on Biblical truth.
“When I first had the option to stand up, I was 14, and I was terrified, and I didn’t really want to,” Adaleia Cross, a Bridgeport High School student represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) in the high court’s case State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
“I told God that I would do it if He made it abundantly clear for me, and He did. He has showed up for me since. He is unbelievably faithful. And anytime I’m feeling discouraged He shows His hand in the case for me. And it’s just been amazing.”
Cross said that she sensed God’s presence from the time she committed to stand on God’s Word.
“The next day, I got on my phone, and the verse of the day on the Bible app was Esther 4:14, which is, ‘Perhaps you were created for such a time as this,’ and I knew that that was what He wanted me to be doing,” Cross said.
She said the Bible verse has been a source of inspiration and courage for her throughout her ordeal. “All throughout the case, that verse has been so prevalent in my life,” Cross said. “He has remained faithful.”
The case centered on a 15-year-old transgender athlete who has publicly identified as a girl since the third grade. B.P.J., a biological male, takes puberty blockers while also receiving hormone therapy with estrogen.
B.P.J. competed with Cross on the Bridgeport Middle School girls’ track team, finishing ahead of almost 300 girls in three years in middle school cross-country and track-and-field events.
Cross and her parents previously alleged to Fox News Digital that B.P.J. sexually harassed Cross and other teammates in the girls’ locker room during the 2022-23 school year. Cross was in eighth grade, and B.P.J. was in seventh.
The ACLU, which represented B.P.J. in the case before the Supreme Court, previously denied the allegations.
“Our client and her mother deny these allegations and the school district investigated the allegations reported to the school by A.C. and found them to be unsubstantiated. We remain committed to defending the rights of all students under Title IX, including the right to a safe and inclusive learning environment free from harassment and discrimination,” the ACLU said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
But the Cross family’s attorneys at ADF have challenged the ACLU’s statement.
“Our client has sworn under oath and under penalty of perjury in numerous cases about the events that took place between her and the male athlete. As a result of the situation, [Cross] had to step away from the sport she loved entirely and sacrifice a key element of her school experience to protect herself,” ADF told Fox News Digital in a written statement.
On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the bans on biological males in female competitions in Idaho and West Virginia, with justices ultimately holding that the laws do not conflict with the 14th Amendment or Title IX rules, which cover sex-based discrimination. In fact, the justices ruled unanimously that the laws do not violate Title IX, concluding that it was enacted to advance opportunities for women and was never designed to erase sex-based distinctions in athletics.
“I definitely have a sense of peace about all of it,” Cross told Fox News Digital after the ruling. “Although I had to go through all of that, and it doesn’t make up for what I had to go through, I know that other girls can be protected, like my sister and my friends who are still on the team.”
Cross also has a message for the plaintiff in the wake of the ruling. “Jesus Christ loves B.P.J. and has a place for B.P.J. if they want to be there,” she said.
