Welcome to the Freedom to Learn podcast.

I'm your host, Ginny Gentles.

This season, we're diving into what it means to return education to states, communities, and families.

And we're exploring what becomes possible when education is freed from union dominance and federal control.

My story is I have a collegiate volleyball coach for 20 plus years.

Unbeknownst to me when I took the job at San Jose State that there was a male on our team and our athletic director and the sport oversight and our head coach would only support the male, was not supporting the females,

not protecting their safety, their wellness, their privacy.

We're joined today by Melissa Beatty Smoose, former San Jose State University Women's Associate

Volleyball Coach, and Fernedette Broils, Melissa's attorney, and the founder

of child and parental rights campaign for a powerful conversation about courage, consequences,

and the future of women's sports, and Title IX. Last week, young female athletes,

policymakers, and other advocates for protecting women's sports held a rally outside the U.S.

Supreme Court,

while justices heard arguments in two cases, one from Idaho and the other from West Virginia,

that could shape how our nation defines sex-based productions. Those legal battles are not abstract.

They're deeply personal, and Melissa's story shows us exactly why. As a longtime women's volleyball coach, Melissa risked her career to speak up when female athletes' safety, dignity, and privacy were put at risk

by a male on their team. Her decision to file a Title IX complaint set off a chain of events

that cost her her job, but also helped fuel a national conversation. Melissa, Vernadette, and I discuss the

path forward, including why federal action matters regardless of the Supreme Court's decision,

and how proposals like DFI's Respect Title IX Act aim to restore clarity to a law that was designed

to protect women and girls, not erase them.

Melissa Beatty Smooth and Vernadette Broils, welcome to Freedom to Learn. Thank you for having us.

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