SEATTLE – On behalf of a teenage wrestler and her mother, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed an emergency motion Thursday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit asking it to require Washington state officials to respect parental rights and protect women’s sports.
A federal district court denied preliminary relief to Kallie Keeler and her mother, Stephanie Brown, who are suing state officials after those officials directed Kallie to take the mat against a male wrestler without telling her or her mother. During the match, the male sexually assaulted Kallie. Brown quickly reported the assault, with video evidence showing Kallie’s in-the-moment reaction, to coaches and school staff, but district officials did little.
“A 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted because of political cowardice. Washington state officials insist on pushing gender ideology at all costs—even at the expense of girls’ safety and privacy,” said ADF Senior Counsel Hal Frampton, director of the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives. “Our client’s story shows the grave harms caused by lying about biology. Washington’s policies not only subject Kallie to an unfair athletic disadvantage, but they also put her at risk of unknowingly wrestling a male again—unless she leaves the sport she loves. We’re urging the court to require state and school officials to respect parental rights and prioritize girls’ safety in sports.”
Kallie, who was 15 at the time of the incident, was matched against a male athlete without her or her mother’s knowledge during a high school girls’ wrestling tournament under the aegis of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association in December 2025. During the match, when the male athlete sexually assaulted Kallie, she appeared visibly distressed while competing and tried to communicate what was happening to her mother, who was recording the match. As ADF attorneys explain, the assault was not a wrestling move—it was a sexual assault. She left the mat crying, but her coaches did nothing.
After the match, another team’s coach informed her that her opponent was male. District officials failed to timely report the assault. They then told Brown and her daughter that they would continue to allow males in girls’ wrestling and would not provide Brown with notice before matching Kallie against a male in the future. Brown and her daughter are asking the 9th Circuit to protect their rights not to be unknowingly forced to compete against a male athlete.
The emergency motion for stay pending appeal filed in K.M.K. v. Washington Interscholastic Activities Association explains how the state’s policy “violates Brown’s constitutional right to make important decisions regarding [Kallie’s] health and safety. Under a long line of Supreme Court decisions, Brown is entitled to notice that [Kallie] is set to face a male and to opt [her] out of those matches.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
# # #