Becky Pepper-Jackson
WASHINGTON – A landmark case regarding transgender athletes is scheduled to be heard next week by the United States Supreme Court.
West Virginia v. B.P.J. will be argued January 13. The case focuses on the state’s Save Women’s Sports Act, a 2021 law that recognizes the inherent physical differences between females and males
The law says male students cannot compete on girls’ sports teams involving competitive skill or contact. Male athletes who identify as female still may compete on boys’ or co-ed teams. The Supreme Court will decide whether the law violates Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause.
McCuskey
West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey says his office is working to “protect female athletes and ensure fairness and safety in women’s and girls’ sports.”
“This case is monumental not only for West Virginia, but for our entire country,” McCuskey said. “The outcome will impact the future of women’s sports, the promises of Title IX, and the safety of our daughters.
“We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will uphold the Save Women’s Sports Act and agree with what West Virginia has been saying for years: biological sex matters in sports, and allowing males to compete against female athletes is unfair and dangerous.”
According to the AG’s office, West Virginia’s law draws the line at objective biology — a line it says “makes good sense because sex is what matters when it comes to sports. Gender identity does not.”
McCuskey’s office says both Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause make room for this. Title IX permits states to separate athletic teams based on biological sex, and the Equal Protection Clause is much the same.
The AG says the 2021 law is constitutional because it promotes fairness and safety in women’s sports.
In this case, Becky Pepper-Jackson is a high school student-athlete who is a member of the Bridgeport High School track and field and cross-country teams. As she was preparing for middle school, the state passed the law banning transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports.
She and her mother sued, arguing the law violated the Constitution and Title IX as applied to her, especially because she has received medication from the onset of puberty and never had experienced any physiological changes associated with puberty for boys.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges that banning Becky from participating in school sports with other girls just because she is transgender is unconstitutional and violates Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in schools receiving federal funding.
As a result of an injunction issued by the lower courts, she has been able to participate in middle school cross-country and track and field for the past three years.
In April, 2024, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that West Virginia’s law excluding Becky from participating on girls’ teams violated Title IX and that the district court should not have dismissed her equal protection claim. Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court granted West Virginia's request to review that decision.
Becky and her mother Heather Jackson are being represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, Lambda Legal and Cooley LLP.
