West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey vowed to keep up the fight to protect women’s and girls’ sports as a transgender athlete competing against girls in the state championship.
Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old freshman at Bridgeport Senior High School who has been the subject of a Supreme Court case about their participation in girls’ sports, finished in third place in the discus event and eighth in the shot put competition.
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As Pepper-Jackson took part in the meet, Morrisey urged officials to keep separate scores.
“A boy is currently competing in girls’ sports at the high school state track meet in West Virginia,” Morrisey wrote on Facebook. “It’s wrong and unfair. I’m again urging officials to keep separate scores so that the true winners can be awarded once we win in court.
“We will not stop fighting to protect girls’ sports.”
A federal appeals court blocked a West Virginia law that would have kept biological males from competing against girls and women in sports last year. The court said the law cannot lawfully be applied to a middle school-aged trans girl who has been taking puberty-blocking medication and has publicly identified as a girl since the third grade.
West Virginia has since made an appeal to the Supreme Court regarding the appeals court’s ruling.
In 2023, Supreme Court justices refused to disturb an appeals court order that made it possible for the girl to continue playing on her middle school’s track and cross-country teams.
As the West Virginia high school track and field moved into the postseason, Morrisey called on coaches to let athletes “take a stand” against transgender participating in girls’ sports.
“I believe what is going on right now in West Virginia – with boys playing sports against girls – to be abhorrent and contrary to law,” he wrote on Facebook. “While we wait for the Supreme Court to issue their ruling in this case, I’m calling on all coaches involved to let these brave athletes take a stand for what is right without unfair punishment.
“As we all work toward removing the wrongly-decided injunction in upcoming months, I ask for all tournament officials to keep a full set of results so that true winners of each event may be recognized when the Supreme Court rules in our favor.”
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