Five West Virginia middle school students who protested a transgender athlete’s participation at a track and field meet have been banned from future events, prompting the state’s attorney general to ask the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to weigh in. West Virginia Watch reported Monday Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of Education on the students’ behalf after they were blocked from upcoming track and field meets following their protests at the April 18 shot put competition. Five female Lincoln Middle School students stepped up to the circle for their turn before refusing to throw in the event, which was won by transgender female athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson, 13. While West Virginia law bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled it could not be applied to Pepper-Jackson. US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Judge Toby Heytens said offering Pepper-Jackson a choice between not participating in sports and participating on boys’ teams “is no real choice at all.”Despite the ruling, Morrisey rallied against it and the treatment of student athletes who protested competing against her.“Their actions at the earlier track meet were not disruptive or aggrandizing,” said Morrisey. “They were the quiet demonstration of the student athletes’ evident unhappiness with the competitive consequences of a federal appellate court’s decision.”Morrisey said he plans to ask SCOTUS to hear the case involving West Virginia's restrictions on transgender student athletes for a second time.American sex-based rights activist Riley Gaines weighed in on the issue, saying the girls stood up for what they believed in and their coach barred them from competing. “Insane,” said Gaines. Morrisey responded to Gaines’ message, noting he plans to do “everything in my power to defend these brave young girls.”“This is just wrong,” he said.“We must stand for what’s right and oppose these radical trans policies.”The World Athletics Council (WAC) announced in 2023 transgender athletes will be banned from competing in international track and field events if they want to go up against biological females. READ MORE: World Athletics Council bans transgender athletes from competitionThe updated eligibility regulations prohibited transgender female athletes who had gone through male puberty from competing in female events.WAC President Lord Sebastian Coe said there had been little support for requiring transgender athletes to maintain their testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomolecules per litre for two years to compete in the female category during a two-month consultation with stakeholders.
