Middle school girls banned for protesting transgender competitor find out their fate
Five West Virginia middle school girls were recently banned from participating in track and field meets after they protested against a transgender athlete. However, a judge has now ruled in their favor, allowing them to compete once again. Judge Thomas A. Bedell issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Harrison Board of Education from penalizing student-athletes for their speech.
The school board denied allegations of retaliation against the students and stated that the girls were allowed to protest with full awareness and permission from coaches and the principal. The board explained that the students were subject to a team rule that prohibited any player who scratched in an event from participating in that same event at the next track meet.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs and applauded the judge’s decision. The middle school girls were originally barred from competing in a shot put track and field event after protesting a court ruling that blocked enforcement of the state’s “Save Women’s Sports Act.”
The Save Women’s Sports Act, which was passed in West Virginia in 2021, prohibited transgender girls from competing against biological girls in sports. However, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law violated Title IX, siding with the ACLU and Lambda Legal.
In a previous ruling, the court determined that the Save Women’s Sports Act could not be lawfully applied to a middle school-aged transgender girl who had been taking puberty-blocking medication and publicly identified as a girl since the third grade. The law would have resulted in the removal of 12-year-old transgender athlete Becky Pepper Jackson from her middle school’s track and field team.
West Virginia is among 24 states that have implemented laws preventing biological males from competing in girls’ sports. The issue of transgender athletes in sports continues to spark controversy and legal battles across the country.
