Freedom Oklahoma responds to Supreme Court Rulings in BPJ and Hecox

Jun 30

Cutout letters repeatedly spelling team, with outlines in trans pride flag pink and blue — *ID: photo filled cutout letters repeatedly spelling team, with outlines in trans pride flag pink and blue and a Freedom Oklahoma logo*

Oklahoma City, OK – This morning, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in two cases — West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox — brought to the Supreme Court by states defending categorical bans on transgender women and girls participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams. The Supreme Court upheld anti-trans sports bans enacted in Idaho and West Virginia, holding that these laws do not violate either Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause.

In response to the rulings, Freedom Oklahoma issued the following statement, attributable to Cole McAfee (they/them), Executive Director:

“It's not lost on me that I never even vaguely considered myself an athlete until I was in a gym space that fully saw me in my gender and encouraged me to move as part of a broader community. Even though I came to it late, the space for sports and belonging has been critical for my mental health and well being.

At schools across the country, students join sports not because of the likelihood they'll be a professional athlete, but because sports are a pivotal place of belonging, community, leadership, and ultimately, fun. The Supreme Court's decision today to double down on this specific and baseless discrimination against trans people, allowing states to exclude trans and intersex folks from sports based on their sex assigned at birth is discouraging, but far from the end of the fight.

Ultimately, these cases aren't about any one facet of gender or access, but rather about the court continuing to declare an increasingly larger group of people are allowed to be excluded, marginalized, and harassed, by their governments, because of a facet of who they are. While also having real implications for the trans young folks at the center of these cases, whose lives continue to be made worse by the exclusion faced as a result of anti-trans sports policies and the rhetoric that accompanies them. Trans folks have always existed in all areas of life, including sports. We'll continue to fight for the future where all young people have access to the joy and belonging provided by sports. We'll continue to fight to keep the "T" in team.”

Freedom Oklahoma is the state's only dedicated 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy organization, working to build a future where all 2SLGBTQ+ people have the safety, community, and resources to thrive, everywhere we call home. You can learn more about the work of Freedom Oklahoma at https://www.freedomoklahoma.org/.

We know hearing, holding, and processing this information is heavy with a measurable impact on the well being of the trans folks targeted by these laws. We also acknowledge community spaces may be hard to find and that we live in a state and society without adequate mental health resources, especially those that are affirming and accessible to 2STGNC+ people. To that end, some possible resources to uplift include warmlines Trans Lifeline & Thrive Lifeline both trans led and operated, BlackLine which operates through unapologetic Black LGBTQ and Black femme lenses, the LGBT National Help Center which handles all calls in-house with trained LGBTQ+ volunteers. They can also include 2SLGBTQ+ crisis hotlines with the warnings they may (with or without consent) engage police, including The Trevor Project and 988.