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West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey weighed in on his state’s upcoming Supreme Court trial against trans athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson after 130 congressional Democrats filed an amicus brief supporting Pepper-Jackson.
Pepper-Jackson filed the case West Virginia v. BPJ in July 2024, challenging the state law, “The Save Women’s Sports Act,” in order to compete on a high school girls’ cross country and track and field team. But the case is now set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, starting in January.
“The Save Women’s Sports Act is about making sports fair and safe for everyone involved. It is not about banning anyone from competing. Biological males can compete against biological males, but not against biological females,” McCuskey said in a statement provided to PK Press Club Digital through the law firm Alliance Defending Freedom.
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“Women and girls have lost spots on sports teams, lost spots on championship podiums, and suffered injuries while competing against bigger, faster, and stronger men. This case is about preserving the hard-earned victories granted in Title IX and, more than anything, protecting our female athletes.”
The West Virginia v. BPJ lawsuit was brought against the state of West Virginia by trans athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson, who initially obtained a preliminary injunction allowing the athlete to compete on the school’s sports teams. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court has now agreed to hear the state’s appeal.
In a response, the athlete’s mother, Heather Jackson, supported West Virginia law which prohibits transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports violates Title IX.
However, Title IX does not explicitly protect the right of biologically male transgender people to identify as women. The Trump Administration and the West Virginia state government do not interpret Title IX to protect this right.
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Becky Pepper-Jackson attends the Lambda Legal Liberty Awards on June 8, 2023 in New York. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Lambda Legal)
Meanwhile, the 130 Democrats who gave their support to Pepper-Jackson includes nine senators and 121 House members.
The list of signatories includes prominent figures from the left wing of the party, including representatives. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezD-N.Y., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. The list also includes House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Nancy Pelosi. The list does not include moderate Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“Category bans, like those in West Virginia and Idaho, undermine these protections and the ability of transgender students to be part of their school communities,” the document writes.
The amicus brief also expresses support for another trans athlete, Lindsay Hecox, whose case will also be heard by the Supreme Court in January.
The Little v. Hecox lawsuit was originally filed by trans athlete Lindsay Hecox in 2020, when the athlete wanted to join the Boise State women’s cross country team and had the state law blocking trans athletes from competing in women’s sports blocked.
Hecox was joined by an anonymous biological student, Jane Doe, who was concerned about the risk of being subjected to the gender dispute screening process. The challenge succeeded when a federal judge blocked Idaho state law.
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A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction blocking the state law in 2023, before the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case. Hecox then asked the court last month to drop the challenge, saying the athlete “has therefore decided to permanently retire and refrain from playing women’s sports at BSU or Idaho.”
Hecox tried to have the case dismissed in September after the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case, but U.S. District Judge David Nye, a presidential appointee Donald Trump in 2017 denied Hecox’s motion to dismiss the case.
