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Tuesday's Supreme Court hearing on trans athletes in women's sports inspired confidence that the majority of justices will side with the legal defense to "Save Women's Sports" and uphold state bans against biological males in those sports.
But some activists are far from satisfied with how the hearing was conducted.
Multiple female athletes connected to the case and others who rallied outside the court in support of the cultural movement told Fox News Digital their reactions to the hearing, the arguments and the justices' questions.
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Reactions to the hearing among those women ranged from hopeful optimism for a landmark ruling to jaded disappointment due to the stances and word choice of the justices:
Female athletes party to the case speak outside the U.S. Supreme Court after justices heard arguments in challenges to state bans on transgender athletes in women's sports on January 13, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 wades into the hot-button issue of transgender athletes in girls' and women's sports. (Oliver Contreras / AFP)
Kenyan, a former Idaho State women's cross-country and track runner, is a voluntary defendant in the Little v. Hecox case, which she decided to join after having to compete against a trans athlete her freshman year in 2019.
"It filled me with excitement and hope for future generations. There should never be a question about states’ rights to protect women’s athletics. I'm glad to see so many people stand up and support something as simple and true as that."
Marshall was Kenyan's teammate at Idaho State and had to experience competing against the trans athlete with Kenyan, and then joined the case alongside her teammate.
"It is always sad to see the people who have been deceived by the lie that men can become women. No amount of hormones can do that. I remain hopeful that more people will see biological reality for what it is: true and unchanging."
Armistead, a former team captain for the West Virginia State University women’s soccer team, intervened in defense of West Virginia’s sports law in B.P.J. v. West Virginia case.
"It has been a long journey to make it to the Supreme Court, so it was incredibly meaningful to me to see the argument in person. It was an awesome experience, and I'm really hopeful that the court will protect women's sports."
INSIDE THE SCOTUS HEARING BOUND TO BE A TURNING POINT IN THE CULTURE WAR OVER TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN'S SPORTS
Former San Jose State University women's volleyball star Brooke Slusser with her parents, Paul and Kim Slusser. (Courtesy of Kim Slusser)
Slusser, a former women's volleyball co-captain at San Jose State University, sued the NCAA, Mountain West Conference and representatives of her school after discovering a teammate she roomed with and changed with was a biological male in 2024. Her story garnered immense media attention during an election-season news cycle and has prompted a federal investigation into the school.
"It was definitely surreal," Slusser said of Tuesday's event, and she is eagerly awaiting resolution on the case, adding that "the unknowing of what's going to happen next and not getting an answer yet," is hard for her.
Stephanie Turner, a U.S. fencer who refused to compete against a transgender athlete in high school, speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear arguments in challenges to state bans on transgender athletes in women's sports on January 13, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Oliver Contreras / AFP)
Turner, a competitive women's fencer, became an overnight sensation in the "Save Women's Sports" movement when footage went viral of her kneeling to protest a trans opponent at a competition last spring. She was disqualified by USA Fencing for refusing to face the opponent and hasn't competed in USA Fencing since.
"Let me say I was a little disappointed that not that there weren't any very strong stances from the Supreme Court justices on language, and that they were capitulating to new age terms like cisgender."
Payton McNabb was severely injured after being struck in the head and neck by a spike from a transgender-identifying male on the opposing volleyball team. (Courtesy of IW Features and Payton McNabb)
McNabb suffered permanent brain damage when she was spiked in the head with a volleyball by a trans athlete during a North Carolina high school match in 2022. McNabb has since become one of the leading activists in the movement and was honored by President Donald Trump's 2025 joint address to congress.
"There was a time not that long ago when many women were afraid to speak up about this issue. Now, to see it taken seriously at the highest level and to see people no longer afraid to stand up for women and girls was incredibly powerful. It reminded me how far this movement has come and why continuing to speak out matters so much.
"The hardest part was realizing that we have sitting Supreme Court justices who cannot define what a woman is. To me, that strips away credibility. How can someone serve on the highest court in the country and not understand basic biological reality? The fact that defining ‘woman’ has even reached the Supreme Court, and that we don’t know how it will turn out, is astonishing and pathetic."
Wheeler is a former University of Kentucky swimmer who had to face transgender UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA championships.
"What hit me the hardest was how little anyone talked about the girls impacted. During the oral arguments, it was nonstop about men and boys, their feelings, their experiences, their access and the girls who Title IX was literally written for were basically an afterthought. And that’s sick to me.
"Then there is this push to reduce women down to a circulating testosterone threshold, like that’s all we are. As if womanhood can be boiled down to a lab result. That’s insulting. Women are not a hormone level. We are complex. We are different, and we deserve protections because of that not in spite of it."
Petty, a former women's volleyball player at Lee University who had to face a transgender opponent during her college career, is now a legislative strategist for the Concerned Women of America.
"Yesterday’s events proved that the movement to protect and promote opportunities for women in sports isn’t just a flash reaction to insanity, we’ve cemented ourselves as a legacy. One of my biggest takeaways was seeing the history we’ve built, and continue to build.
"Some of the involved athletes have been in this for nearly a decade, and many of the thought leaders even long before that. Yet still, the coalition continues to grow and new athletes are standing up daily."
Lorey, a former women's soccer player at Vaguard University, is currently the outreach director for the California Family Council and has been on the front lines of bringing awareness to the issue of trans athletes in girls' sports in California – the nation's biggest hotbed of incidents.
"I was disappointed that the hearing so often centered on the desires of males rather than the rights and safety of women and girls, the very people this debate is supposed to protect. Justice Alito stood out by grounding the discussion in reality, asking the most basic question: what is a man and what is a woman?
"When the ACLU attorney admitted she could not even define what a man or a woman is, it exposed how detached from reality this entire argument has become. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s reference to sex being ‘assigned at birth’ was especially concerning.
"While some justices appeared willing to concede women’s rights through language and abstraction, such as when Justice Amy Coney Barrett adopted terms like ‘trans girls’, I believe science, Title IX, and the Constitution are on the side of women and girls, and that truth will ultimately prevail."
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Ray is a former women's volleyball player at Utah State, and was part of the team that forfeited to San Jose State in 2024 to avoid facing Slusser's transgender teammate.
"I think it's unfortunate that some of the liberal-leaning justices were very ideological in their questioning, almost as if they are looking for rationalizations and justifications for allowing this injustice to continue. I don’t feel this should be a left or right issue, this is a women’s issue.
"And the truth is simple: men do not belong in women's sports or spaces. It’s also disheartening to know that we have a sitting justice who doesn’t know or could not define what a woman is. Still, I am hopeful though that the court will rule in favor of upholding the bans."
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson's reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
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