WV officials applaud U.S. Supreme Court decision in transgender athletes case

West Virginia officials on Tuesday celebrated a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the state’s ban on transgender athletes participating in women’s school athletics. 

The justices ruled 9-0 that West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act does not violate Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance, and 6-3 that it does not violate Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits states from denying equal protection of the law to anyone within its jurisdiction.

The decision overturned a 2024 ruling from the Fourth Circuit of Appeals that found the law violates transgender students’ rights under Title IX.

In a statement Tuesday, West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey, whose office argued the case in front of justices earlier this year, called the decision a “monumental victory” for every female athlete who’s dreamed of competing on a fair playing field.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms what common sense and the law have long made clear: states have the right to designate sports teams based on biological sex, not gender identity,” McCuskey said in the statement. “Without that delineation, Title IX is turned on its head, and decades of hard-fought progress to advance female athletes are erased. I am immensely proud of my team for not only getting this issue before the Court but also for delivering sound and successful arguments. 

“This landmark victory will give all states, not just West Virginia, the clarity and confidence to ensure fairness and safety for female athletes today and for generations to come,”  he said.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who as the state’s former attorney general, brought the case to the Supreme Court, called the decision “one of the most important victories for women’s athletics since the enactment of Title IX itself.”

“Years ago, as Attorney General of West Virginia, I brought this case to the Supreme Court because I knew that protecting women’s sports was consistent with the Constitution and a matter of basic fairness,” he said in a statement. “That principle brought West Virginia to the center of a national debate and ultimately before the highest court in the land.

“For far too long, Americans watched as this debate unfolded and wondered whether the promise made to generations of women and girls would endure,” Morrisey said. “Today, the Supreme Court answered that question. The protections established under Title IX remain meaningful, the integrity of women’s sports remains worth preserving, and states retain the authority to defend fair competition.”

The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, which oversees the state’s school athletics, acknowledged the ruling in a statement Tuesday. The decision remanded the matter to the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia for proceedings consistent with it, the statement said. 

“The WVSSAC will be looking for the District Court’s guidance as to implementing the Supreme Court’s directives for the State of West Virginia and, accordingly, the WVSSAC,” the agency said in a statement. “The WVSSAC appreciates the patience of our schools, students, and families throughout this process.”

The challenge was brought by the mother of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a transgender girl who’s now a rising junior at Bridgeport High School in Harrison County. Pepper-Jackson won the girls state shot put championship title in May, fueling the debate over her participation in the sport. 

Pepper-Jackson was born a male and has lived at home as a girl since the third grade. She was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2019 and began puberty-delaying medication the following year, according to the complaint filed the case. She was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of West Virginia, Lambda Legal and Cooley LLP.

In a statement Tuesday, Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Rights Project, said the ruling is “heartbreaking” for its clients and other transgender girls who asked for “the same opportunities afforded to their peers.

“The reality is that the equality of transgender women and girls takes nothing away from, and in fact promotes, the equality of all women and girls,” he said. “We will continue to advance the fundamental principle that all young people deserve equal opportunity to thrive and succeed.”

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Block called the decision disappointing but narrow.

“(The court) issued a narrow decision focused specifically on the unique context of sports. It didn’t issue a broader decision saying that Title IX, in general, didn’t protect transgender students,” he said. “It didn’t say that other states couldn’t make a different policy choice and allow transgender girls to participate with cisgender girls. 

“It didn’t issue a sweeping ruling saying that under the Constitution, it’s perfectly fine to discriminate based on transgender status. On each of those issues, the court wrote a narrow ruling that leaves the rest of the legal rights of transgender people where the court found them. We are going to take heart from that as we continue to push back against attempts by states and by the Trump administration to erase transgender people from public life.” 

Fairness West Virginia, the state’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organization, said in a statement the decision is disappointing but noted it stops short of requiring states to ban transgender athletes. 

“While this decision is not the one we were hoping for, we will not be deterred from standing up for what is right,” the organization said. “All LGBTQ+ people deserve a fair shot in life, and they deserve the chance to participate fully in their schools, workplaces and communities. We will continue to show up and speak out to support trans Mountaineers.”

Former Gov. Jim Justice signed the Save Women’s Sports Act into law in 2021. Justice, a high school girls basketball coach and a U.S. senator, said Tuesday he signed the law because it’s “just common sense.”

“As a coach, I know our girls work too hard and sacrifice too much to have the deck stacked against them,” he said in a statement. “Today is a BIG win for female athletes all across this country. I’m proud West Virginia had the courage to lead the way. We stood up first, and now the rest of America can see we got it right.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, applauded the court for upholding the state’s “common sense law to protect girls’ sports.”

“As an athlete myself and the mother of a daughter who played a college sport, I believe strongly that allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports undermines the very fairness and protections Title IX was designed to provide,” she said in the statement. “With the athletics landscape in our country rapidly evolving, we must recommit ourselves to protecting female athletes and ensure they can always compete on a level playing field. I’m proud to continue championing this issue for young girls across West Virginia, and I congratulate our leaders back home for the decisive victory today.”