(Sports Illustrated/KVOE) On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union announced a federal court has issued an injunction against West Virginia’s law banning transgender students from participating in school sports.
The ruling comes months after the ACLU filed the suit on behalf of 11-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, who wanted to try out for her middle school cross-country team but was barred from doing so.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed H.B. 3293 into law at the end of April.
Early this year, Kansas passed Senate Bill 55, also known as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, only to see Governor Laura Kelly veto the measure in April. SB 55 says transgender athletes have “an absolute advantage” over female athletes and will “likely” have performance benefits even a year after hormonal therapy or other gender-affirming treatments — so they could not compete in girls’ and women’s sports at the high school or college level.
The NCAA has threatened to pull high-level or championship events from states with similar laws.
