Trans athlete at center of Supreme Court Title IX case wins girls' track and field state championship
Transgender athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson won a girls' state championship in West Virginia this week, before the U.S. Supreme Court could make a ruling on whether the state can ban Pepper-Jackson from competing against females.
Pepper-Jackson took first place for Bridgeport High School in the Class AAA state title with a personal best of 38 feet, 11.75 inches. The second-place winner, Paislee Babiczuk, of John Marshall, finished more than two feet shorter, only managing 36 feet 11 inches.
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Pepper-Jackson's eligibility to compete in girls' competitions in West Virginia has been a point of high-stakes legal contention dating back to 2021, when the state passed a bill that prevents biological males from competing in girls' sports. Pepper-Jackson sued and successfully challenged the law, gaining entry into girls' competitions throughout high school, before the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
Pepper-Jackson's attorneys at ACLU delivered oral arguments to the Supreme Court justices on Jan. 13. But with no ruling expected until June, Pepper-Jackson was left to continue competing throughout the athlete's high school season.
Pepper-Jackson has now earned state champion status in dominant fashion, after the athlete's own lawyers at the ACLU argued that males don't have a competitive advantage over females, with ACLU attorney Joshua Block arguing "if the evidence shows there are no relevant physiological differences between B.P.J. and other girls, then there's no basis to exclude her."
West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey, who is helping to lead the legal defense against Pepper-Jackson and the ACLU, sent a letter to the Supreme Court on Tuesday highlighting Pepper-Jackson's performance this season and how it compares to female competitors.
"As a high school sophomore, Pepper-Jackson is not finishing 'near the back of the pack ...' but is instead defeating every— or nearly every — female in the state in these events. I would appreciate it if you could circulate this message to the members of the court," McCuskey wrote.
The attorneys representing the case defense against Pepper-Jackson's lawsuit at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) have also taken notice of what the track meet's results might mean for their argument.
"The developments from the state meet from this past weekend just underscore the fact that no amount of testosterone suppression or intervention can undo the very real differences that males have over women," ADF attorney Suzanne Beecher told Fox News Digital.
"It really cuts against the ACLU's argument."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the ACLU for a response.
The Supreme Court appears ready to rule in favor of West Virginia against Pepper-Jackson with the expected June ruling looming. But that looming will do nothing for the girls who were impacted on Saturday.
"What has already happened by putting West Virginia's law on hold as it applies to West Virginia in the B.P.J case is that girls have already been harmed," Beecher added. "When you ignore differences between boys and girls, and between males and females, a lot of the harm falls on girls."
The ACLU previously urged SCOTUS not to base its ruling on a definition of "sex."
"However the court resolves this case, I really urge the court not to do it on the definition of sex argument," Block said during Jan. 13 oral arugments. "I don't think the purpose of Title IX is to have an accurate definition of sex. I think the purpose is to make sure that sex isn't being used to discriminate by denying opportunities… I wouldn't look to whether or not to classify B.P.J. as male or female, I think the question is, ‘is she being denied an opportunity because of that classification?'"
After the hearing, Fox News Digital asked Block what his definition of "sex" is. He declined to give a definition.
"I don't think that's what, that's what's at issue in this case. What's at issue in this case is fair treatment for all people, including cis people and trans people, and that's what we're here to talk about today," Block answered.
Fox News Digital attempted to ask Block why sex should not be defined in the case, but the attorney walked away and did not take any further questions. The question on defining sex was the only question Block answered in the post-hearing scrum before ending his address to reporters.
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