Adaleia Cross encourages viral discussion on new claims in SCOTUS trans athlete sexual harassment
Hearts are breaking for West Virginia teenager Adaleia Cross on social media after an interview with Fox News Digital about her experience at the center of the trans athlete scandal that has come to light in the recent Supreme Court case in girls’ sports.
Cross became an unexpected youth hero of the “Save Women’s Sports” movement earlier this year after she went public with allegations that the athlete, who is at the center of a West Virginia SCOTUS case, allegedly sexually assaulted her in the locker room years ago.
In his latest interview this week, Cross alleged that he was mistreated by both peers and teachers at his school during his rampage, and that the teacher even said he saw him as a “small person.”
“My homeroom teacher, who I was with for two years, told me that she sees me as a little person,” said Cros.
“The hardest part for me was losing friends I’ve had for years,” she said. “I’ve been friends with these kids since middle school, elementary school, and watching them grow up, and get into high school, they don’t want anything from me.
“The people I love don’t want to talk to me now.”
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Clips of Cross’ allegations went viral on social media, drawing sympathy and outrage from several prominent activists.
West Virginia high schooler Adaleia Cross has become an unexpected teenage hero in the “Save Women’s Sports” campaign. (Jackson Thompson of Fox News Digital)
Cross and her parents told Fox News Digital of allegations of sexual harassment in the girls’ locker room during the 2022-23 school year. Cross was in eighth grade, and the trans athlete was in seventh.
Fox News Digital does not name a trans athlete because the athlete is young.
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The ACLU has previously denied the allegations.
“Our client and her mother deny these allegations and the school district investigated the allegations reported to the school by AC and found them to be unsubstantiated. We are committed to protecting the rights of all students under Title IX, including the right to a safe and inclusive learning environment that is free from harassment and discrimination,” read a statement from the ACLU provided to Fox News Digital.
But lawyers for the Cross family at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) then responded to the ACLU’s statement.
“Our client has sworn under oath and under penalty of perjury in multiple cases regarding incidents that occurred between her and a male athlete. Because of this situation, [Cross] he had to leave a sport he absolutely loved and sacrifice a significant part of his school experience to protect himself,” read an ADF statement provided to Fox News Digital.
The Cross family said that when they reported the allegations of abuse at school, nothing was done to reprimand the athlete, as far as they know.
“They told me that they will do a full investigation and I told them,” said Adaleia. “And then, all of a sudden, it was like nothing else was happening, it was done, and it seemed like they didn’t think anything of it because they didn’t talk to us about it, they just left it there and didn’t tell us anything else, so it was like, yup we’re done.”
His father, Holden Cross said, “We didn’t get any response from the school after filing the report.”
Fox News Digital made repeated requests to the ACLU and the Harrison County School District, which oversees Bridgeport Middle School and Bridgeport High School, seeking documents related to the school’s investigation and clarification as to whether an investigation took place and, if so, why only the Cross family was not notified of the results. Those requests were not met.
Fox News Digital has since contacted the ACLU and the Harrison County School District for a response to Adaleia Cross’ statements, but has not received a response.
The Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that schools can support sports eligibility for women and girls based on their natural gender. The court overturned rulings against West Virginia and Idaho, whose laws allowed girls’ and women’s sports teams to be all-female.
Cross said most of his high school is supportive. But he said the small group was loud enough to make everyday life difficult.
“My high school was very supportive,” Cross said. “Many teachers, administrators, I know they support me. Most of the kids, I know they support me.”
But, he said, “there’s a small number of people who don’t, and they talk a lot about it.”
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“They’re aggressive, and there’s been threats, and there’s been hate,” Cros said. “So, while it was like 80/20, it felt like 50/50, which was difficult.”
And now, despite the fact that this athlete will not return to girls’ sports, Cross said that she will not return to sports as it has been a long time since she last competed.
“As much as I like it, I’m not planning on it. I’ll be a senior this year, and after not participating for two years, I won’t be close to comparing with other girls because of the training they received compared to what I didn’t receive,” she said.
