Appeals court overturns West Virginia transgender sports ban - ESPN

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A federal appeals court has overturned a West Virginia transgender sports ban, finding that the law violates Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools.

The 2-1 ruling Tuesday from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocks a West Virginia law banning transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams.

The court said the law cannot lawfully be applied to Becky Pepper Jackson, a 13-year-old girl who has been taking puberty-blocking medication and has publicly identified as a girl since she was in the third grade.

In February 2023, the court had blocked the state's bid to kick Jackson off her middle school track and field team if the law were enforced.

The court Tuesday ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, its West Virginia chapter and LGBTQ interest group Lambda Legal, which filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the state and county boards of education and their superintendents as defendants. Republican Gov. Jim Justice had signed a bill into law earlier that year.

«This is a tremendous victory for our client, transgender West Virginians, and the freedom of all youth to play as who they are,» ACLU West Virginia attorney Joshua Block said in a statement.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, said he was «deeply disappointed» in the decision.

«I will keep fighting to safeguard Title IX. We must keep working to protect women's sports so that women's safety is secured and girls have a truly fair playing field,» Morrisey said. «We know the law is correct and will use every available tool to defend it.»

Sports participation is one of the main fronts in legislative and legal battles in recent years over the rights of