The Price of Political Cowardice Is A Girl’s Sexual Assault

Stephanie Brown pulled out her phone to record her 15-year-old daughter’s wrestling match just like she had done hundreds of times before. Born and raised in Washington state, Kallie Keeler had been wrestling since she was four years old, following in the footsteps of her three older brothers, and had gotten quite good at the sport by the beginning of her sophomore season, earning the number two spot on her high school team.

Only this match was different. Stephanie recognized immediately that something was wrong with her daughter. She saw visible distress on Kallie’s face as her opponent pinned her down, heard Kallie shout out in pain, and then watched as she got up from the mat, crying. None of this was normal.

Unbeknownst to Stephanie or her daughter, Kallie had been matched with a male wrestler at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association-sponsored girls’ wrestling tournament in December 2025. While pinning Kallie to the mat, the male wrestler sexually assaulted her.

Leaving the mat, Kallie was in shock. Another team’s coach approached her and informed her that her opponent was male. Despite observing how distraught Kallie was, her own coaches walked away. They did nothing to help her.

Kallie told her mom about the egregious assault, and they both felt betrayed by what happened and by the fact that Kallie had been forced to wrestle a male opponent without their knowledge or consent. The WIAA and school officials knew Kallie’s opponent was male, hid that critical piece of information, and matched the athlete against Kallie anyway. Had Kallie known her opponent was male, she would not have taken the mat — and this sexual assault would not have happened.

Stephanie quickly reported the sexual assault in writing, with video evidence, to the coaches and school staff. But they did nothing. Despite Washington state’s mandatory 48-hour reporting law, officials ignored the incident until it became a national news story weeks later. Even now, they refuse to take it seriously — to deal with the assault, to reserve girls’ sports for girls, or even to give parents the necessary notice so they can keep their daughters safe. In late July, prosecutors finally decided to charge Kallie’s principal and athletic director with a gross misdemeanor for not reporting the incident in a timely manner, but beyond the Trump administration’s pending federal Title IX investigation, no official has been held accountable for what happened to Kallie on the mat.

That is why Kallie and Stephanie had no choice but to sue state officials. Alliance Defending Freedom, where I serve as senior counsel, filed a lawsuit on their behalf to seek justice for a young girl who simply loves wrestling and ended up being sexually assaulted because of political cowardice. The court scheduled the first hearing for August 18.

Washington state officials insist on pushing gender ideology at all costs — even at the expense of girls’ safety and privacy. The school district’s written policy prohibits notifying parents or anyone else when their daughters will be matched against male athletes. Furthermore, district officials told Stephanie and Kallie that they won’t change their policy. If Kallie returns to wrestling, she can be matched against a male athlete again without notice and over her objection.

Officials refused to protect this young girl by informing her ahead of time that she’d be wrestling a boy, and then, after she was sexually assaulted, they failed to defend her by keeping silent about the assault. They also refuse to protect her and other girls in the future.

It is appalling that, upon hearing Kallie’s story, some, including elected officials in the state, brushed off the sexual assault as a known risk of wrestling, suggesting this is something she consented to when she signed up to participate in a contact sport — as though a 15-year-old girl can consent to sexual assault — digital penetration — just for participating in a high school sport.

Washington state failed this family, but it isn’t too late to protect other girls. State officials must change their policies and prioritize girls’ safety in sports. No girl should have to unknowingly wrestle a boy. And no mother should have to watch her daughter compete and not be able to protect her because she doesn’t know her daughter is wrestling a boy.

At a bare minimum, parents must be notified before their daughters are matched against male opponents. Every parent has the right to make informed decisions about their children’s safety.

Kallie’s story is proof of the grave harm caused by lying about biology. This must end — otherwise, girls will continue getting hurt and violated. We are urging the court to require state officials to change their policy to ensure that girls’ privacy and safety are protected when they compete in the sports they love.

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Kate Anderson is senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) and leads its Center for Parental Rights.