Last week week, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments for two landmark cases that are fighting back against attempts to ban transgender youth from participating in school sports at the high school and collegiate levels. To support the two young trans athletes — Becky Pepper-Jackson and Lindsay Hecox — the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) launched its "More Than a Game" campaign, which features exclusive merchandise designed by award-winning fashion designer and ACLU Artist Ambassador Willy Chavarria.
"I collaborated on this campaign because I think that, any time our rights as humans are at stake, it's up to all of us to stop that from happening," the designer who helms his own eponymous label tells Out in a statement. "We all exist in this world together. And without all of us having equal rights and all of us having the dignity that we deserve — including trans kids — then none of us really, truly have it."
Several notable athletes and celebrities have shown their support for Pepper-Jackson, the lead plaintiff in one of the historic cases that has reached the Supreme Court. Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, Elliot Page, Benito Skinner, Kara Young, Brianna Turner, and Naomi Watts are all featured in the campaign, along with a group of young people and Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU's LGBT & HIV Project. He's also serving on the legal teams for both of these major cases — he's been on the Little v. Hecox legal team since the case was first filed after Idaho became the first state to pass a ban on trans women and girls participating in sports, and joined the West Virginia v. BPJ case after it reached the Supreme Court.
Becky Pepper-Jackson in a t-shirt from the "More Than a Game" merchandiseCollier Schorr
Strangio tells Out that he and the team at the ACLU were looking for ways to intervene in the public discourse surrounding these cases as they make their way to court to combat the "misinformation and really insidious rhetoric," adding that they thought about the "not just the presentation to the court narratively, but the presentation to the public." He mentions the strong connection between fashion and sports, especially professional sports, and the statements each athlete makes with the outfits they wear to their games, "so it felt really organic to do a fashion collab," he says.
It also makes sense that they partnered with Chavarria, who is known to use his fashion to make political statements. The designer currently holds the title of ACLU Artist Ambassador for Immigrants' Rights and LGBTQ Rights.
At his Spring/Summer 2026 runway show during Paris Fashion Week in June, the fashion brand addressed ICE raids and mass deportations through the show, positioning the models to be kneeled on the runway with their heads down, similar to how the prisoners of Salvadorian prisons "where people are being profiled and persecuted with no due process,” Teen Vogue reports the brand writing.
When asked why Strangio felt fashion was the best mode of communication to convey that these cases were about "more than just a game," Strangio notes shifts in popular culture over the years and how they impact not only the Supreme Court but all courts. There isn't a separation between the law and policy worlds and the cultural world; they're in constant exchange, he says. "When it comes to something like a case about trans people before the Supreme Court, so much of what's happening is being infused with cultural narratives about transness."
(L-R): Chase Strangio and Willy Chavarria in the "More Than a Game" jacketCollier Schorr
Strangio adds, "And so it felt like we couldn't go before the Supreme Court without having some sort of disruption in that flow of culture, of that the harmful rhetoric and narratives that were coming before the country, and then, by extension, the court, without sort of more truthfully telling the range of supportive views."
But he's realistic about how this campaign will influence the court of public opinion, these landmark cases, and trans people in general. "We're not going to see the type of change we need in the next five months or even the next five years," Strangio says. "But if we see each intervention as building towards something, I think we want to make it harder and harder for people to say, 'Well, nobody supports trans people. Nobody supports trans inclusion in sport.'"
He continues, "The more you have these visual cues and these cultural reminders, the easier it is for people to join in the conversation to feel more comfortable with the idea that, 'Yeah, no, we're not OK with this kind of attacking from our government,' and we're actually seeing how easily it moves from trans people to all LGBT people to all women to immigrants, and it's all sort of part of this larger project."
(L-R): Megan Rapinoe, Becky Pepper-Jackson, and Sue Bird for the "More Than a Game" merchandise campaignCollier Schorr
According to the Associated Press, the majority of conservative justices seem ready to vote in favor of upholding the states' ban against transgender women and girls from participating in school athletic teams. The gravity of the Supreme Court's decision and the lasting impacts it will have on not only transgender women, but women nationwide, is not lost on anyone involved in the case.
It's powerful to watch Pepper-Jackson, a 15-year-old from West Virginia, go up against the highest court in the land. Strangio is in awe of her as well, saying, "The amazing thing about Becky is she's been able to find the resilience through this, and the sort of deep sense of purpose to at least send a message of sort of hope, of humanity to other young trans people."
Strangio adds that in spending time with her, he's learned that "it's both harder than I could ever imagine and so important to stand up for the injustices that you face around you and watching her believe that good will come, whether it's in her lifetime or in the future, reminds me that of why we do what we do, why we fight for a better world, even If we can't see it actualized."
Learn about the More Than a Game campaign at aclu.org.
