jward
passin' thru
Court rules in favor of girls who refused to compete against transgender athlete
Valerie Richardson
Valerie Richardson
A West Virginia judge has granted a temporary injunction sought by four middle-school girls who refused to compete against a transgender athlete, a decision that prevents school officials from barring the girls from track meets.
Harrison County Judge Thomas Bedell ruled Thursday in favor of the Lincoln Middle School girls who said they were pulled from competing after their April 18 silent protest against Bridgeport Middle School eighth-grader Becky Pepper-Jackson, a male-to-female transgender student.
“Even though there was no malice found on either part of the defendants, the plaintiffs have met their burden and the temporary injunction has been granted,” said Judge Bedell, as reported by WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
A decision on a final injunction will be made at a later hearing, but the ruling in the lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of Education was seen as a victory for advocates of single-sex female sports.
“I want to say to these students and their parents: I have your backs,” said West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who filed an amicus brief in support of the girls.
“You saw unfairness and you expressed your disappointment and sacrificed your personal performances in a sport that you love; exercised your constitutionally protected freedom of speech and expression,” Mr. Morrisey said in a statement. “These girls didn’t disrupt anything when they protested. They should be commended, not punished.”
The lawsuit was brought by four of the five girls who protested the transgender student’s eligibility by entering the shot-put ring and exiting without making a throw at the Harrison County Middle School Championships.
Becky Pepper-Jackson won the event, outdistancing the second-place competitor by more than 3 feet.
The board of education denied that the students were subject to retaliation or punishment, citing a school policy that bars any player who “scratches” in an event from participating in the same event at the next track meet.
“This neutral, school-specific rule was in place before the students’ protests and has nothing to do with those protests in any way,” said the board in a Thursday statement. “Other than not being permitted to participate in the same event in which they scratched at the next track meet, the students have competed in track meets and events following their protests without restriction.”
The board also noted that nobody stopped the students from forfeiting the shot-put competition with their protest, even though “the coaches and principal were aware of the likelihood of the protests and permitted the students to remain on the roster for their events.”
At the court hearing, two of the girls testified that they knew nothing about the scratch rule. They also said they were punished at the next practice by being told to do “Indian runs,” also known as interval sprints.
Their protest came two days after the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals declared unconstitutional the state’s 2021 law requiring scholastic athletes to participate based on biological sex and not gender identity, a challenge filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Becky Pepper-Jackson.
Mr. Morrisey said afterward that he will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, which would make West Virginia the first state to bring the issue of transgender eligibility in female sports before the high court.
Good news! After being barred from future competitions, the five girls who refused to compete against a boy at a track & field meet in WV have WON their lawsuit.
A win for truth and sanity. Good on these girls & their parents for pushing back https://t.co/cBd3HTIgDw pic.twitter.com/2EKjcHyGBE
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) May 3, 2024
All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, who hosts OutKick’s “Gaines on Girls” podcast, cheered the Harrison County decision, calling it a “win for truth and sanity. Good on these girls & their parents for pushing back.”
Twenty-four states have approved bans on male-born athletes in female scholastic sports over the objections of LGBTQ advocates, who argue that “trans women are women” and that barring them from girls’ and women’s events is discriminatory.
INSANITY - Five middle schoolers who refused to compete against a biological male in the shot put have been banned from future competitions.
Collin Rugg @CollinRugg NEW: Five middle schoolers who refused to compete against a biological male in the shot put have been banned from future competitions. Where are all the outraged feminists? West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is now filing a lawsuit against the Harrison...
