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Tuesday’s Supreme Court hearing on trans athletes in women’s sports inspired confidence that the majority of justices will side with the legal defense to “Save Women’s Sports” and uphold state bans on biological males in those sports.
But some activists are far from satisfied with how the hearing was conducted.
Several female athletes connected to the case and others who gathered outside the court in support of the cultural movement told Pakinomist Digital their reactions to the hearing, the arguments and the judges’ questions.
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Reactions to the hearing among these women ranged from hopeful optimism for a landmark ruling to blunt disappointment at the judges’ attitudes and choice of words:
The defendants
Female athletes who are parties to the case speak outside the U.S. Supreme Court after justices heard arguments in challenges to the state’s ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports on January 13, 2026 in Washington, DC. The U.S. Supreme Court on January 13 will weigh in on the hotly contested issue of transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. (Oliver Contreras/AFP)
Madison Kenyan
Kenyan, a former Idaho State women’s cross country and track runner, is a volunteer litigant in the Little v. Hecox case, which she decided to join after having to compete against a trans athlete her freshman year in 2019.
“It filled me with excitement and hope for future generations. There should never be a question of states’ rights to protect women’s athletics. I’m glad to see so many people stand up and support something as simple and true as that.”
Mary Kate Marshall
Marshall was Kenyan’s teammate at Idaho State and got to experience competing against the trans athlete with Kenyan, then joined the cause with his teammate.
“It’s always sad to see the people who have been deceived by the lie that men can become women. No amount of hormones can do that. I remain hopeful that more people will see biological reality for what it is: true and unchanging.”
Lainey Armistead
Armistead, a former team captain for West Virginia State University’s women’s soccer team, intervened in defense of West Virginia’s sports law in the BPJ v. West Virginia case.
“It’s been a long journey to get to the Supreme Court, so it was incredibly meaningful for me to see the argument in person. It was a great experience and I really hope the court will protect women’s sports.”
INSIDE SCOTUS HEARING TO BE A TURNING POINT IN THE CULTURE WAR OVER TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS
Demonstrators
Brooke Slusser
Former San Jose State University women’s volleyball star Brooke Slusser with her parents, Paul and Kim Slusser. (Courtesy of Kim Slusser)
Slusser, a former women’s volleyball co-captain at San Jose State University, sued the NCAA, the Mountain West Conference and representatives of her school after discovering that a teammate she roomed with and switched with was biologically male in 2024. Her story garnered enormous media attention during an election season news cycle and has prompted a federal investigation into the school.
“It was definitely surreal,” Slusser said of Tuesday’s event, and she anxiously awaits a resolution to the case, adding that “not knowing what’s going to happen next and not getting an answer yet,” is difficult for her.
Stephanie Turner
Stephanie Turner, an American fencer who refused to compete against a transgender athlete in high school, speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear arguments in challenges to the state’s ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports on January 13, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Oliver Contreras/AFP)
Turner, a competitive female fencer, became an overnight sensation in the “Save Women’s Sports” movement when footage went viral of her kneeling to protest a trans opponent at a competition last spring. She was disqualified by USA Fencing for refusing to face the opponent and has not competed in USA Fencing since.
“Let me say that I was a little disappointed that there weren’t any very strong positions from the Supreme Court justices on language and that they capitulated to new age concepts like cisgender.”
Payton McNabb
Payton McNabb was seriously injured after being hit in the head and neck by a spike from a transgender-identifying man on the opposing volleyball team. (Courtesy of IW Features and Payton McNabb)
McNabb suffered permanent brain damage when she was impaled in the head with a volleyball by a trans athlete during a high school game in North Carolina in 2022. McNabb has since become one of the leading activists in the movement and was honored by President Donald Trump’s 2025 joint address to Congress.
“There was a time not too long ago when many women were afraid to speak up about this issue. Now, to see it taken seriously at the highest level and to see people no longer afraid to stand up for women and girls was incredibly powerful. It reminded me how far this movement has come and why it matters so much to keep speaking out.
“The hardest thing was realizing that we have sitting Supreme Court justices who can’t define what a woman is. To me, that removes credibility. How can someone serve on the highest court in the land and not understand the basic biological reality? To define ‘woman’ even made it to the Supreme Court and we don’t know how it ends is amazing and amazing.”
Kaitlynn Wheeler
Wheeler is a former University of Kentucky swimmer who was slated to face transgender UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA Championships.
“What hit me the hardest was how little anyone talked about the girls impact. During the oral arguments, it was nonstop about men and boys, their feelings, their experiences, their access, and the girls that Title IX was literally written for was basically an afterthought. And that sickens me.
“Then there’s this push to reduce women to a threshold of circulating testosterone, as if that’s all we are. As if femininity can be boiled down to a lab result. It’s insulting. Women are not a level of hormones. We’re complex. We’re different, and we deserve protection because of it, not in spite of it.”
Macy Petty
Petty, a former women’s volleyball player at Lee University who had to face a transgender opponent during her college career, is now a legislative strategist for Concerned Women of America.
“Yesterday’s events proved that the movement to protect and advance opportunities for women in sport is not just a knee-jerk reaction to insanity, we have cemented ourselves as a legacy. One of my biggest takeaways was seeing the history we have built and continue to build.
“Some of the athletes involved have been at this for nearly a decade, and many of the thought leaders even long before that. Yet the coalition continues to grow and new athletes are rising daily.”
Sophia Lorey
Lorey, a former women’s soccer player at Vaguard University, is currently the director of outreach for the California Family Council and has been on the front lines of raising awareness about the issue of trans athletes in girls’ sports in California—the nation’s biggest hotbed of incidents.
“I was disappointed that the hearing so often revolved around the desires of men over the rights and safety of women and girls, the very people this debate is supposed to protect. Justice Alito stood out by grounding the discussion in reality and asking the most fundamental question: what is a man and what is a woman?
“When the ACLU lawyer admitted that she couldn’t even define what a man or a woman is, it revealed how detached from reality this whole argument has become. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s reference to sex being ‘assigned at birth’ was particularly troubling.
“While some justices seemed willing to concede women’s rights through language and abstraction, as when Justice Amy Coney Barrett adopted terms like ‘transgirl,’ I believe that science, Title IX, and the Constitution are on the side of women and girls, and that truth will ultimately prevail.”
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Kaylee Ray
Ray is a former women’s volleyball player at Utah State and was part of the team that lost to San Jose State in 2024 to avoid meeting Slusser’s transgender teammate.
“I think it’s unfortunate that some of the liberal-leaning judges were very ideological in their questioning, almost as if they’re looking for rationalizations and justifications to allow this injustice to continue. I don’t feel like this should be a left or right issue, this is a women’s issue.”
“And the truth is simple: Men do not belong in women’s sports or spaces. It is also disheartening to know that we have a sitting judge who does not know or could not define what a woman is. However, I am hopeful that the court will rule in favor of upholding the bans.”
