West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has publicly announced his support of the five middle school girls who forfeited their school track & field events when they protested against being forced to compete against a boy playing on the girls’ team.
The Republican AG signed a brief in support of the girls who were banned from competing by their school district for daring to speak out against transgender athletes being allowed to compete against girls.
The five girls had mounted their protest at a school track & field event on April 18 by stepping into their ring, then immediately stepping out and refusing to compete.
5 middle school female athletes in West Virginia on Thursday refused to throw shot put against male Becky Pepper-Jackson.
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) April 19, 2024
They “stepped in” then “stepped out” in protest.
This is how you finally stop men from ruining women’s sports.
These girls get it!pic.twitter.com/Kufjp3BmUX
Just before their protest, a federal appeals court had partially overturned the state’s ban on males playing in girls’ sports.
This week, the five girls were officially banned by the Harrison County Board of Education from competing in school sports because they dared to protest being forced to play against a boy.
But fast on the tail of that ban, AG Morrisey has filed a lawsuit against the school district.
“Their actions at the earlier track meet were not disruptive or aggrandizing. They were the quiet demonstration of the student-athletes evident unhappiness with the competitive consequences of a federal appellate court’s decision,” Morrisey said in his amicus brief in support of the girls.
The state’s supreme court did not entirely overturn the transgender ban law but blocked it from being applied against student Becky Pepper-Jackson, who is suing the state over the trans ban law.
Morrisey also said he would press the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case over the state’s law, according to West Virginia Watch.
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