CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia and Idaho are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review rulings that blocked enforcement of state laws prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in sports.
“If the Supreme Court takes up this case, it will determine the fate of women’s sports across the country for many years to come,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Thursday at a press conference at the State Capitol in Charleston.
It is unclear when the Supreme Court will decide whether to take up the cases, filed separately Thursday, involving transgender athletes who had hoped to compete on all-female teams at the K-12 and college levels.
In the West Virginia case, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in April that the state’s ban on transgender sports violated Becky Pepper-Jackson’s rights under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools. Jackson, 14, has been taking puberty blockers since third grade and publicly identifies as a girl.
West Virginia’s Republican governor, Jim Justice, signed the law into law in 2021.
In 2020, Idaho became the first state in the U.S. to ban transgender women and girls from playing on women’s sports teams sponsored by public schools, colleges and universities. The American Civil Liberties Union and women’s rights group Legal Voice sued Idaho on behalf of Lindsay Hecox, who was running for Boise State University.
A Boise-area high school athlete who is not transgender is also a plaintiff in the case, fearing that if someone questions her gender, she could be legally forced to undergo invasive testing to prove her biological sex.
In August 2023, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction blocking the law while the trial continues.
Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador said Thursday that activists working against the law are “pursuing a radical social agenda that marginalizes women and girls in their own sports.”
“Idaho is committed to ensuring women and girls have a fair chance on and off the field,” Labrador said in a statement.
Morrisey said his office worked closely with Labrador in filing the states’ petitions.
“We believe the combination of these cases provides the U.S. Supreme Court with an excellent tool for action,” he said.
Participation in sports has been one of the main points of contention in recent years in legislative and legal battles over the role of transgender people in public life in the United States. Most Republican-dominated states have enacted restrictions on participation and bans on gender-affirming health care for minors. Some have also imposed restrictions on which restrooms and locker rooms transgender people can utilize, particularly in schools.
West Virginia and Idaho are two of at least 24 states that have laws prohibiting transgender women and girls from participating in certain women’s and girls’ sports.
“This case is about fair play,” Morrisey said. “It’s just common sense, and we need the Supreme Court to step in and do the right thing.”
The ACLU, ACLU of West Virginia, Lambda Legal and Cooley Law Firm issued a joint statement in response.
“As the Fourth Circuit has made clear, our client deserves the opportunity to participate on sports teams without discrimination,” Pepper-Jackson’s legal team said. “We will make our position clear to the court and continue to defend the right of all students to play as they are.”
