Law & Courts

‘I Just Want to Play.’ Judge Halts W. Va. Law Barring Transgender Girls From Girls’ Sports

By Mark Walsh — July 22, 2021 3 min read
Image of a gavel.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A federal district judge has blocked a West Virginia law that bars transgender athletes from competing in girls’ school sports in the state, ruling that it is likely unconstitutional as it applies to an 11-year-old transgender girl who hopes to participate on her middle school cross-country and track teams.

“At this point, I have been provided with scant evidence that this law addresses any problem at all, let alone an important problem,” U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin of Charleston, W. Va., wrote in his July 21 opinion in B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education, granting a preliminary injunction against the “Save Women’s Sports Bill.”

The law was challenged by Becky Pepper-Jackson, who was assigned male at birth but identified as a girl by 3rd grade, as well as by her mother, Heather Jackson. Pepper-Jackson hopes to participate in middle school sports in the Harrison County, W.Va., school district this fall. According to the suit, however, the school principal in May informed the family that Pepper-Jackson would not be allowed to join the girls’ teams because of the measure signed into law April 28 by Gov. Jim Justice, a Republican.

Goodwin held that the law likely violates the 14th Amendment’s equal-protection clause with respect to Pepper-Jackson. (He said the question of whether the law is unconstitutional on its face would have to be determined at a later stage of the litigation.)

The judge also ruled that the West Virginia law likely violates Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law that bars sex discrimination in federally funded schools.

Goodwin said Pepper-Jackson was being excluded from school athletics “on the basis of sex,” and that her case was supported by recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, in Richmond, Va. (West Virginia is part of the 4th Circuit.)

Judge Had ‘Little Difficulty’ Finding Harm in W.Va. Law

The judge cited the Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars sex discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity. And he cited the 4th Circuit’s final ruling last year in favor of Gavin Grimm, a Virginia transgender student who was excluded by his school district from using the boys’ restroom.

Goodwin said he had “little difficulty” finding that Pepper-Jackson is harmed by the West Virginia law.

“All other students in West Virginia secondary schools—cisgender girls, cisgender boys, transgender boys, and students falling outside of any of these definitions trying to play on the boys’ teams—are permitted to play on sports teams that best fit their gender identity,” the judge said. “Under this law, [Pepper-Jackson] would be the only girl at her school, as far as I am aware, that is forbidden from playing on a girls’ team and must join the boys’ team.”

Pepper-Jackson and her mother are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal, and they drew support from a court filing in June by President Joe Biden’s administration.

“I am excited to know that I will be able to try out for the girls’ cross-country team and follow in the running shoes of my family,” Pepper-Jackson said in a statement released by her lawyers. “It hurt that the state of West Virginia would try to block me from pursuing my dreams. I just want to play.”

There was no immediate reaction from state officials. Gov. Justice, in signing the bill, said it wasn’t one of his priorities but that allowing transgender girls to participate in female sports “would impose an unfair disadvantage on the girls.”

The West Virginia law is the second one restricting transgender students in sports to be blocked by a federal court. A similar Idaho law was blocked last year, in a ruling that is under review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco.

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Oklahoma Nonbinary Student's Death Shines a Light on Families' Legal Recourse for Bullying
Students facing bullying and harassment from their peers face legal roadblocks in suing districts, but settlements appear to be on the rise
11 min read
A photograph of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager who died a day after a fight in a high school bathroom, is projected during a candlelight service at Point A Gallery, on Feb. 24, 2024, in Oklahoma City. Federal officials will investigate the Oklahoma school district where Benedict died, according to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education on March 1, 2024.
A photograph of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary teenager who died a day after a fight in a high school restroom, is projected during a candlelight service at Point A Gallery, on Feb. 24, 2024, in Oklahoma City. Federal officials will investigate the Oklahoma school district where Benedict died, according to a letter sent by the U.S. Department of Education on March 1, 2024.
Nate Billings/The Oklahoman via AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Declines Case on Selective High School Aiming to Boost Racial Diversity
Some advocates saw the K-12 case as the logical next step after last year's decision against affirmative action in college admissions
7 min read
Rising seniors at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology gather on the campus in Alexandria, Va., Aug. 10, 2020. From left in front are, Dinan Elsyad, Sean Nguyen, and Tiffany Ji. From left at rear are Jordan Lee and Shibli Nomani. A federal appeals court’s ruling in May 2023 about the admissions policy at the elite public high school in Virginia may provide a vehicle for the U.S. Supreme Court to flesh out the intended scope of its ruling Thursday, June 29, 2023, banning affirmative action in college admissions.
A group of rising seniors at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology gather on the campus in Alexandria, Va., in August 2020. From left in front are, Dinan Elsyad, Sean Nguyen, and Tiffany Ji. From left at rear are Jordan Lee and Shibli Nomani. The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 declined to hear a challenge to an admissions plan for the selective high school that was facially race neutral but designed to boost the enrollment of Black and Hispanic students.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Law & Courts School District Lawsuits Against Social Media Companies Are Piling Up
More than 200 school districts are now suing the major social media companies over the youth mental health crisis.
7 min read
A close up of a statue of the blindfolded lady justice against a light blue background with a ghosted image of a hands holding a cellphone with Facebook "Like" and "Love" icons hovering above it.
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts In 1974, the Supreme Court Recognized English Learners' Rights. The Story Behind That Case
The Lau v. Nichols ruling said students have a right to a "meaningful opportunity" to participate in school, but its legacy is complex.
12 min read
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William O. Douglas is shown in an undated photo.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, shown in an undated photo, wrote the opinion in <i>Lau</i> v. <i>Nichols</i>, the 1974 decision holding that the San Francisco school system had denied Chinese-speaking schoolchildren a meaningful opportunity to participate in their education.
AP