The U.S. Supreme Court will hear West Virginia vs. B.P.J. during its fall term, a challenge to West Virginia’s ban on transgender athletes. The ban was challenged by Becky Pepper-Jackson (pictured) a teenage transgender student athlete from West Virginia. (Billy Wolfe | ACLU photo)
The Supreme Court of the United States will take up a challenge of a West Virginia law prohibiting transgender athletes from participating in school sports in a case that could decide the legality of other such bans around the country.
The high court is expected to hear West Virginia vs. B.P.J. during its fall term.
The lawsuit was brought by the mother of Bridgeport student athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson against the West Virginia Board of Education. At the time the federal lawsuit was filed in 2021 Pepper-Jackson was an 11-year-old student athlete who wanted to run for her middle school’s cross-country team but was prohibited from doing so.
The lawsuit alleges the state’s 2021 Save Women’s Sports Act, signed by former Gov. Jim Justice, is unconstitutional.
In a ruling last year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the state from enforcing the ban, finding the law violated Pepper-Jackson’s rights. Pepper-Jackson, a freshman during the last school year, qualified to participate in two events during the West Virginia High School State Track & Field Championships in May, according to reporting by West Virginia MetroNews.
Since 2020, 27 states, including North Carolina, have banned transgender youth from playing school sports, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The Supreme Court will also take up a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s transgender athlete ban.
State attorney general J.B. McCuskey celebrated the news that the high court would take up the case, saying that “female athletes in West Virginia will have their voices heard.”
“The people of West Virginia know that it’s unfair to let male athletes compete against women; that’s why we passed this commonsense law preserving women’s sports for women,” McCuskey said. “We are confident the Supreme Court will uphold the Save Women’s Sports Act because it complies with the U.S. Constitution and complies with Title IX. And most importantly: it protects women and girls by ensuring the playing field is safe and fair.”
Pepper-Jackson is represented by the ACLU, Lambda Legal and Cooley LLP.
In a statement, Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, said that school athletic programs should be accessible to everyone regardless of sex and transgender status.
“Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork and to simply have fun with their friends,” he said. “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”
In a statement Thursday, Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who represented the state in the case in his prior role as attorney general, said he is pleased to hear the high court will take up the case.
“I am optimistic that after hearing the case, the Supreme Court will restore sanity to athletics and allow West Virginia to enforce its commonsense law that prevents boys from competing in girl’s sports,” Morrisey said.
This report was first published by West Virginia Watch, which like NC Newsline, is part of the national States Newsroom network.
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