Hearts broke for West Virginia teen Adaleia Cross on social media after a viral interview with Fox News Digital about her experience at the center of a trans athlete scandal that overlapped with the recent Supreme Court case on girls’ sports.
Cross became a sudden teen heroine in the “Save Women’s Sports” movement earlier this year after she came forward with allegations that the trans athlete at the center of the West Virginia SCOTUS case allegedly sexually harassed her in the locker room years ago.
In her most recent interview this week, Cross alleged that she was mistreated by both peers and teachers at her school district amid her activism, and that a teacher even said she saw her as “less of a person.”
“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.”
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Clips of Cross’s allegations spread across social media prompting sympathy and outrage from several prominent activists.
Cross and her parents previously told Fox News Digital the alleged sexual harassment occurred 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 is not naming the trans athlete because the athlete is a minor.
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The ACLU previously denied the allegations.
“Our client and her mother deny these allegations and the school district investigated the allegations reported to the school by A.C. and found them to be unsubstantiated. We remain committed to defending the rights of all students under Title IX, including the right to a safe and inclusive learning environment free from harassment and discrimination,” read an ACLU statement provided to Fox News Digital.
But the Cross family’s attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) then responded to the ACLU’s statement.
“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. As a result of the situation, [Cross] had to step away from the sport she loved entirely and sacrifice a key element of her school experience to protect herself,” read an ADF statement provided to Fox News Digital.
The Cross family said when they reported the alleged harassment to the school, nothing was done to reprimand the trans athlete, to their knowledge.
“They told me they would do a full investigation into what I told them,” Adaleia 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.”
Her father, Holden Cross said, “We received no 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 documentation related to the school’s investigation and clarification on whether an investigation occurred and, if so, why only the Cross family was not notified of the results. Those requests have not been met.
Fox News Digital has since reached back out to the ACLU and the Harrison County School District for a response to Adaleia Cross’s statements, but has not received a response.
The Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that schools may base eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports on biological sex. The court reversed rulings against West Virginia and Idaho, whose laws restrict girls’ and women’s sports teams to biological females.
Cross said most of her high school has supported her. But she said a small group was loud enough to make daily life harder.
“My high school has been very supportive,” Cross said. “A lot of teachers, the administration, I know they support me. Most of the kids, I know that they support me.”
But, she said, “there’s a very small population that does not, and they are extremely vocal about it.”
“They are aggressive, and there have been threats, and there’s been hate,” Cross said. “So, while it’s like an 80/20, it feels more of a 50/50, which has been hard.”
And now, despite the fact that the athlete won’t be returning to girls’ sports, Cross said that she won’t be returning to sports either, as too much time has passed since she last competed.
“As much as I would like to, I don’t plan on it. I will be a senior this year, and after not participating for two years, I won’t be anywhere near with comparing with the other girls because of the training they have had versus what I haven’t had,” she said.
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