Teen Athlete Goes Viral After Revealing She Was Sexually Harassed by Trans Athlete in Locker Room
A West Virginia girl who fought back after a male on her track team harassed her and threatened to rape her says her school became a sea of hostility after she stood up against putting males in female sports.
Adaleia Cross attends Bridgeport High School in West Virginia. Her school district was at the center of a recent Supreme Court ruling that said males cannot play in women’s sports.
Although the ruling was a victory for her position, it came at a cost.
In January, her parents wrote an opinion piece in USA Today explaining the sexual harassment by the male who the school allowed to play, and why they joined the court case supporting a West Virginia law banning males from girls’ sports.
Students and teachers were openly hostile to Adaleia, according to Fox News.
Adaleia Cross’ homeroom teacher said to her “I see you as less of a person” when she wore a t-shirt that said Save Women’s Sports.
How is a person like that allowed to be around kids? Just the worst kind of person. pic.twitter.com/jomgjueWjq
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) July 10, 2026
“My homeroom teacher, who I’d had for two years, told me that she sees me as less of a person,” Cross said.
“The hardest part of the whole situation for me has been losing friends that I’ve had for years,” she said. “I’ve been friends with these kids since middle school, early elementary school, and to watch as we get older, and we get into high school, they just want nothing to do with me.”
“People I love don’t want to talk to me now,” she said.
The ACLU, which supported the male athlete, said the harassment claim was false.
But the Alliance Defending Freedom fought back for her.
The girl behind BPJ v West Virginia deserves to be honored.
She was young and terrified. So she told God that if He wanted her to speak up, He’d have to make it clear.
The next morning, the verse of the day that popped up on her phone was Esther 4:14 — “Perhaps you were created… pic.twitter.com/EscFB2t1cD
— Moms for Liberty (@Moms4Liberty) July 10, 2026
“Our client has sworn under oath and under penalty of perjury in numerous cases about the events that took place between her and the male athlete,” the ADF said in a statement.
Adaleia had to “step away from the sport she loved entirely and sacrifice a key element of her school experience to protect herself,” the statement continued.
The school let her down, Adaleia said.
“They told me they would do a full investigation into what I told them,” she said. “And then, all of a sudden, it was like nothing else was happening, it was done, and it seemed like they thought nothing of it because they didn’t talk to us about it at all, they just left it there and didn’t tell us anything else, so it just made it seemed like, yup it’s done.”
Adaleia had told Fox News that the male athlete’s presence changed everything.
“A lot of girls, after [the athlete] came into our locker room, started going to the bathroom,” Cross said. “They started changing in stalls, which was not really normal.”
“You would have kids separated to try to not be around [the athlete], but it was still hard because during track meets, you had to be around [the athlete],” she said. “Girls were just uncomfortable. They didn’t want to be around [the athlete].”
She said it was galling to watch the male win a state championship just before the Supreme Court ruling.
“It was extremely frustrating for me and for I know several other girls,” she said.
“All of my friends that have been working to be at the top for years, they had the first place spot taken from them, and then every other place, um, behind that, and it’s just, it’s been really hard. Even though I’m not competing, I know the frustrations everybody else is having, and they stand no chance, and it’s not their fault, it’s biological reality,” she continued.
Adaleia said she relied on God during those tough times.
“When I first had the option to stand up, I was 14, and I was terrified, and I didn’t really want to,” Cross said. “I told God that I would do it if He made it abundantly clear for me, and He did. He has showed up for me since.”
Cross said one particular Bible verse helped her.
“The next day, I got on my phone, and the verse of the day on the Bible app was Esther 4:14, which is, ‘Perhaps you were created for such a time as this,’ and I knew that that was what He wanted me to be doing,” she said.
She said the verse stayed with her through the case.
“All throughout the case, that verse has been so prevalent in my life,” she said. “He has remained faithful.”
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