ACLU attorney dodges harassment questions about transgender athlete at SCOTUS
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American Civil Liberties Union attorney Joshua Block sidestepped questions about a recent statement by West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey regarding harassment allegations against Block’s client, a transgender athlete from West Virginia.
McCuskey, who is leading her state’s legal defense against the transgender athlete after the transgender athlete filed a lawsuit to block a state law aimed at keeping biological males out of girls’ sports, addressed the allegations at a press conference Monday.
“When you think about a child being abused, it gives you pause as a parent. It’s not our topic, but it’s inappropriate for any child to be abused in this country. And it’s wrong, and we all need to stand up to make sure that children aren’t abused anywhere, especially in athletics,” McCuskey said. he said.
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Fox News Digital attempted to question Block about McCuskey’s statement following oral arguments in the case at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, but Block walked away from the first wave of questioning to pose for photos with his team and client.
Following the photo shoot, Fox News Digital pursued Block again to ask about McCuskey’s statement, but Block once again dodged the questions as assistants covered him up.
The allegations were leveled against the transgender athlete by Bridgeport High School student Adaleia Cross, who was a track and field teammate of the transgender athlete while at Bridgeport Middle School.
Cross’s mother, Abby, told Fox News Digital about what the transgender athlete allegedly said to her daughter when they shared the girls’ locker room during the 2022-23 school year. Adaleia was in eighth grade, and the transgender athlete was in seventh grade. Abby Cross alleges that the transgender athlete made extremely graphic and crude sexual threats to her daughter and other girls on the team.
The transgender athlete’s legal representatives at the American Civil Liberties Union denied the allegations.
“Our client and her mother deny these allegations, and the school district investigated the allegations reported to the school by the AC and found them to be unfounded. We are 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,” an ACLU statement provided to Fox News Digital said.
The Cross family’s attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) responded to the ACLU’s statement.
“Our client has been under oath and perjury in many cases regarding the events between himself and the male athlete. As a result of this situation, [Cross] “He had to completely step away from the sport he loved and sacrifice a key element of his school experience to protect himself,” read an ADF statement provided to Fox News Digital.
Trans athlete personally denied the allegations New York Times in a story published Monday.
“I wasn’t raised that way,” the athlete said.
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The publication obtained a letter from the Harrison County School District stating that the investigation determined that Cross’s allegations “cannot be proven.”
The Cross family said that when they reported the alleged abuse to the school, as far as they knew, nothing was done to reprimand the transgender athlete.
“They said they would thoroughly investigate what I told them,” Adaleia said. “And then, all of a sudden, as if nothing else was happening, it was done, and it was like they weren’t thinking anything of it because they never talked to us about it, they left it all there and didn’t tell us anything else, so it just looked like ‘yeah, it’s over’.”
“We did not receive any response from the school after we made our report,” said his father, Holden Cross.
Fox News Digital has 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 an explanation of whether an investigation was conducted and, if so, why only the Cross family was not notified of the results. These demands were not met.
Meanwhile, former Lincoln Middle School girls track and field runner Emmy Salerno claims the transgender athlete used “intimidation tactics” against her after Salerno refused to compete against the transgender athlete during an event during the 2024 spring season.
Salerno’s protest took place on April 18, 2024, when she and the transgender athlete were in eighth grade. Salerno, along with four other girls, refused to compete in the girls’ shot put competition at a local meet that day. Salerno claims his team was disqualified from the next meet, after which he began facing intimidating glares from the transgender athlete at public events.
“After he came out, he had a sudden personality change. He didn’t want to talk to me. He just wanted to look at me and just look down,” Salerno told Fox News Digital.
Salerno also provided Fox News Digital with a screenshot of a Snapchat post apparently sent by the transgender athlete, which included a photo of Salerno and the text, “Remind me you have more testosterone than me.”
Salerno said that there was an incident at a local basketball game in which a trans athlete followed him and gave him scary looks, and Salerno was worried that the trans athlete would try to “fight” with him.
“When he followed me everywhere at the basketball game, I was like, ‘Is he going to try to fight me?'” Salerno said. “I felt like that.” he said. “‘Is he going to sneak up behind me and try to punch me?'”
Salerno and his father say they believe the stares, stalking patterns and social media posts were “intimidation tactics” and that there was “long-term discomfort” resulting from the situation.
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Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court to hear arguments over state laws banning transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
“I tried to stay away from him everywhere I went,” Salerno added.
The ACLU did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for a response to Salerno’s allegations.
Salerno said he refrained from competing against a transgender athlete the following season, but instead of making a public protest, he told his coach not to include him in the roster for upcoming meets to avoid penalty to the team.
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Salerno claims she also heard other girls in the community talking about Cross’ sexual harassment allegations against the transgender athlete. Salerno said he was never in the locker room or bathroom with a transgender athlete.
“It started to be talked about more around track season,” Salerno said of the sexual harassment allegations. “I heard people talking about it through my school.”
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