West Virginia, Idaho asking Supreme Court to review rulings allowing transgender athletes to compete
West Virginia and Idaho are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review rulings that blocked the enforcement of state laws prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in sports
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia and Idaho are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review rulings that blocked the enforcement of state laws prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in sports.
“If the Supreme Court takes this up, it will determine the fate of women’s sports across the entire country for many years to come,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Thursday at a briefing with reporters at the state Capitol in Charleston.
It's unclear when the high court would decide whether to take up the cases, which were filed separately Thursday and involve transgender athletes who hoped to compete on female-designated teams at the K-12 and college level, respectively.
In the West Virginia case, a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled 2-1 in April that the state's transgender sports ban 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-blocking medication and publicly identified as a girl since she was in the third grade.
