Girls Sports

Kallie Keeler, the 16-year-old who reported her opponent — a boy — for sexually assaulting her during a wrestling match, waited nearly two months for her high school to investigate the complaint.

Now, Keeler’s experience is the subject of two law enforcement investigations and an escalating debate over Washington state’s “gender inclusive” policies.

Below are the four most important updates in the case of Kallie Keeler.

The Department of Education (DOE) launched a civil rights investigation into Keeler’s case on February 13. The inquiry will determine whether Puyallup School District violated Title IX by:

• Allowing a boy to participate in girls sports.
• Allowing a boy to change in a girls locker room.
• “Failing to adequately respond to allegations of sexual assault.”

Keeler did not say whether she encountered her alleged assailant in the locker room, but other Puyallup students say they have.

In January, independent journalist Brandi Kruse reported twelve female wrestlers from Emerald Ridge High School, where the boy is one of two males on the girls wrestling team, asked school leadership to make the boys change in a different area.

The group of girls alleged the boys would come into the locker room and watch them change — even if the duo were already dressed for practice.

Keeler alleges her high school did not report her experience to police until January 30, nearly two months after the incident occurred. Washington public school officials must legally report all allegations of sexual assault to police within 48 hours.

The Washington Interscholastic Athletics Association confirmed Keeler’s male opponent withdrew from the girl’s state wrestling championship on or around February 16.

He had qualified for the state tournament as a freshman with no prior wrestling experience. In his absence, a female wrestler will get her rightful chance to compete.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office finished investigating Keeler’s case in mid-February. Investigators subsequently recommended Pierce County prosecutors charge the alleged offender with rape in the third degree — a felony.

The prosecutor’s office acknowledged receiving recommended charges but declined to reveal what they are. Prosecutors say they are working with the case detective to obtain additional evidence.

The prosecutor’s office will decide whether the evidence in Keeler’s case is strong enough to win a conviction in court.

Parents and community members showed up in force at a Puyallup School District Board Meeting last week.

Several attendees asked the board pointed questions about district employees’ alleged failure to follow mandatory reporting requirements.

“What are you as a school board going to do to ensure the safety of girls that you are responsible for?” A father of three daughters asked. “And why did the staff not report this to the police when they were initially informed?”

Other comments revealed the depth of the problems “gender inclusivity” policies have caused in the district. One attendee began:

The commentor connected all four incidents to the erosion of parental rights:

Washington is equally to blame for the situation in Puyallup School District. The state’s the laws and school policies make protecting girls a fire-able offence.

Washington public schools require students participate in sports and use facilities consistent with their “gender identity,” not their sex.

Officials cannot preemptively ask a transgender-identified student to change in a private area unless the student requests it themselves.

Officials cannot disclose the sex of a transgender-identified student without their permission, which means female athletes do not always get the chance to refuse to compete against a boy.

Laws like these make the victimization of Keeler and other female students and athletes a virtual guarantee.

Washingtonians submitted two initiatives to the state legislature in January to shore up parental rights in education and prevent males from competing in female sports.

To learn more about the initiatives, read the Daily Citizen’s story here.

Additional Articles and Resources

Washington State Citizens Fight for Parents’ Rights Girls Sports

Erin Friday on Family Courts, ‘Transgender’ Sanctuary States and Fighting to Protect Parental Rights

HHS Investigates Seattle Children’s Hospital Over Harmful ‘Transgender’ Procedures

18 States Sue HHS for Protecting Children From Sex-Rejecting Procedures

WATCH: Cruel and Unusual Punishment in Women’s Prison

Yes, Girls Care When Boys Take Their Trophies

ADF Files Civil Rights Complaints to Protect Female Athletes, Parents

California Family Council (CFC) held a press conference earlier this month encouraging the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) to keep boys out of girls sports and locker rooms.

The event, which featured seven CIF athletes impacted by boys invading their sports, took place outside the Long Beach hotel where CIF leadership had gathered for its winter federated council meeting.

CIF allows students to compete in sports and use locker rooms consistent with their “gender identity,” rather than their sex. The policy has impacted more than 360,000 female athletes in California public schools, according to the Independent Council on Women’s Sports.

“We’ve told [the CIF members] inside that they have the opportunity to do the right thing, that we have attorneys that are willing to work with them pro bono to fix their policy,” Sophia Lorey, CFC’s Outreach Director, kicked off the press conference.

“So, when CIF continues to tell you that their hands are tied by the state, they’re lying to you,” Lorey emphasized. “They have their own policy that allows this to happen.”

Per its Gender Diversity Toolkit, CIF’s sports participation policy:

• Allows male students to participate in girls sports without undergoing sex-rejecting procedures or producing any proof of sexual identity confusion.
• Allows students to switch between sexed leagues from one semester to another.
• Prevents coaches from requiring a transgender-identified student to change in a private area unless the student requests it.
• Instructs coaches not to inform players or parents when a transgender-identified student joins an opposite-sex team.

Parents, women’s rights activists and school board members from across the state spoke at CFC’s press conference, affirming girls’ rights to single-sex sports and spaces and vowing to fight until CIF begins protecting female athletes.

California assemblymembers Kate Sanchez and David Tangipa also took the podium in support of California’s female athletes.

“Title IX was never meant to be controversial,” Sanchez, who introduced an assembly bill last year to protect girls sports, opined.

“It was meant to guarantee girls a fair shot, a fair race, a fair roster and a fair opportunity to win.”

Tangipa urged California fathers to stand in bold defense of their daughters:

He continued:

The press conference centered on the experiences of Hadeel Hazimeh, Madison McPherson, Taylor Starling, Celeste Duyst, Audrey Vanherweg, Reese Hogan and Olivia Viola — seven female athletes forced to compete with and against men in high school sports.

Hazimeh and McPherson sued Jurupa Valley Unified School District for forcing them to play volleyball with a male teammate — likely AB Hernandez.

“Over the years, I witnessed the boy go through puberty,” McPherson, who also lost first place track finishes to Hernandez, told the audience. “No girl on the volleyball team grew in strength and agility like he did.”

McPherson repeatedly brought safety concerns to Jurupa Valley High School’s administration but said the school “treated [her] as if [she] was the problem.”

“I witnessed many girls get hurt, including my sister, and the school did nothing,” she recalled.

Taylor Starling lost her hard-earned spot on Martin Luther King High School’s varsity track team when Abigail Jones, a boy, joined the team in November 2024.

“He was not expected to attend practice while I did everything that was required of a varsity athlete,” Starling recalled.

“I woke up for early morning practice and ran six miles with my team after school, all while juggling homework and extra classes like all of the other girls.”

When Jones took Starling’s spot on varsity, she and her friend Kaitlyn wore “Save Girls Sports” T-shirts to practice.

In response, Starling said, her athletic director “made me remove my shirt and said it was like wearing a swastika in front of a Jewish person and threatened disciplinary action if I wore it again.”

Celeste Duyst competes in track at Aurora Grande High School, where she is forced to change with Lily Norcross, a boy.

“There’s a boy who watches girls change in my locker room at my school,” she said frankly, continuing:

Duyst ended her message with a pointed question for CIF:

Audrey Venherweg, a teammate of Duyst’s at Aurora Grande High, chose to change in her car rather than subject herself to Norcross’ behavior.

“I’m more comfortable changing in my car than in my own school’s locker room, where boys are welcomed to watch girls undress,” Venherweg emphasized.

Reese Hogan, a varsity, tri-sport track athlete at Lutheran High School, lost five races to AB Hernandez between 2024 and 2026 — including the triple jump in last year’s state finals.

Hogan’s beat her personal record in the state triple jump and shattered her school’s previous record. Her performance should have launched her to first place. Instead, she took second behind Hernandez, who “beat” her by more than four feet.

“I felt pride in my accomplishment, but also deep disappointment because my hard work, my record-breaking performance and my rightful title were taken away from me simply because CIF allowed a male to compete in the girls division,” Hogan concluded, audibly distressed by the memory.

Olivia Viola, a senior, four-year track athlete and Hogan’s teammate, spent the last year working to ensure she and her team no longer compete against boys.

“I’ve been on the news twice, interviewed, involved in rallies, press conferences, petitions, written so many speeches — and so have most of these girls,” Viola referenced her fellow speakers.

“But despite all of our efforts to push back, we are about to be in the exact same situation this season,” she concluded.

“Nothing can express the disappointment and frustration of knowing that after everything, nothing has changed.”

While these athletes poured their hearts out, California Assemblyman Adam Lowenthal filmed his own video across the street, criticizing Assemblymembers Sanchez and Tangipa for failing to invite him, a representative of Long Beach, to speak.

“We all know that [they] don’t actually care about women,” Lowenthal asserted, noting the Republican members failed to support a $90 million funding bill for Planned Parenthood.

Lorey approached Lowenthal to ask if he wanted to join the conference to stand up for girls sports and spaces.

“This is not a partisan issue,” she told him. “This is common sense.”

Lowenthal declined her invitation.

Additional Articles and Resources

DOJ Lawsuit Describes California Department of Education’s Infuriating Treatment of Girls

Feds Pressure California After Boy Wins in Girls Track and Field Championship

Feds Sue California Department of Education, Interscholastic Federation for ‘Illegal Sex Discrimination’

The California Interscholastic Federation ‘Gender Diversity Toolkit’ Reveals Extent of Radical Transgender Participation Policies

California Sues DOJ Over ‘Transgender’ Athlete Ban

Girls Volleyball Team Forfeits Fame to Avoid Playing Boy

Photo courtesy of Alyssa Cruz and California Family Council

A Washington school district allowed a 16-year-old girl to wrestle a boy in December without disclosing the boy’s sex.

When the high school sophomore revealed her male opponent sexually assaulted her during the match, school officials sat on the allegations for nearly two months — involving the police only after the press picked up the story.

Kallie Keeler started wrestling when she learned to walk. Though no stranger to the physicality of her sport, the Rogers High School student never experienced a match like the one she wrestled against Emerald Ridge High School on December 6, 2025.

“That has never happened, out of all the years I’ve wrestled,” Keeler told Brandi Kruse of the Undivided podcast, who broke the story.

Kruse did not ask Keeler to describe the assault on the podcast, summarizing her opponent had “reached between [Keeler’s] legs and very forcefully, for several seconds, tried to [sexually penetrate] her.”

Keeler’s mom unwittingly captured the alleged assault on video. Mid-match, the 16-year-old’s face registers confusion and disgust. She mouths something at the camera before trying to squirm away.

Soon after, she allowed herself to be pinned just so she could get off the mat.

“I didn’t really know what to do or how to handle the situation,” Keeler told Kruse. “I just wanted the match to be over.”

When Keeler told her mom what happened during the bout, she still believed her opponent was female. A coach soon informed her she had wrestled a boy.

“I was really shocked at first,” Keeler recalled her reaction. “It’s a women’s [high school] wrestling team, so I wasn’t really … concerned about that.”

The boy Keeler wrestled in December is one of two boys on Emerald Ridge High School’s women’s wrestling team. In late January, Kruse reported more than 12 girls asked school leadership to make the boys change in a different area, alleging the duo would come into the locker room just to watch the girls change.

Emerald Ridge reportedly responded by refreshing the girls on Washington public schools’ commitment to gender-inclusivity.

The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) requires public schools allow students to use facilities and participate in sports consistent with their “gender identity,” rather than their sex. While schools must provide any student private facilities upon request, administrators cannot force transgender-identified students to use separate facilities unless they request it.

Both boys reportedly agreed to use a separate changing facility at first. Kruse’s sources claim the agreement lasted just one day.

Keeler reached out to Undivided when it released the story about Emerald Ridge’s wrestling team. By then, she’d waited more than a month for Rogers High School to act on her allegations.

Though Washington law requires educators report claims of sexual assault to police within 48 hours, Keeler’s coaches, athletic director and principle allegedly failed to do so.

That changed on January 29, when Undivided reached out to Rogers High School regarding Keeler’s story. Just one day later, the school notified the Pierce Police Department about the sophomore’s experience.

Rogers subsequently responded to Undivided, claiming it couldn’t share any details about the ongoing investigation but that “student safety is a top priority and that all reports involving student safety are taken seriously.”

Failing to comply with mandatory reporting requirements can result in penalties of up to a year in prison and $5,000 in fines, Kruse notes. Why would four Rogers High School administrators allegedly risk such legal trouble?

It’s not a difficult question. Washington has made “gender-inclusivity” part of its social, political and legislative identity. School officials have little incentive to investigate claims like Keeler’s, which impugn the wisdom and morality of the state’s stance, and every incentive to keep claims of abuse out of the public eye.

“Everyone hoped Kallie Keeler would just drop it,” Kruse surmised. “But she’s a 16-year-old who has more courage than most adults in the state of Washington.”

While Washington’s political and social elite fight for transgender-identified students to, effectively, do what they like, Kruse asks the obvious:

“Who’s fighting for the girls?”

Washingtonians submitted two initiatives to the state legislature in January — one to protect parents’ rights in education and the other to prevent males from competing in female sports.

To learn more about the initiatives and what you can do to help, read the Daily Citizen’s story here.

Additional Articles and Resources

Washington State Citizens Fight for Parents’ Rights Girls Sports

Erin Friday on Family Courts, ‘Transgender’ Sanctuary States and Fighting to Protect Parental Rights

HHS Investigates Seattle Children’s Hospital Over Harmful ‘Transgender’ Procedures

18 States Sue HHS for Protecting Children From Sex-Rejecting Procedures

WATCH: Cruel and Unusual Punishment in Women’s Prison

Yes, Girls Care When Boys Take Their Trophies

ADF Files Civil Rights Complaints to Protect Female Athletes, Parents