“We commend Judge Goodwin for protecting girls’ and women’s opportunities to excel in sports. Female athletes train hard to compete and should not lose titles, records, and scholarships that are rightfully theirs and even incur serious sports-related
CHARLESTON, WV – A federal judge ruled that a West Virginia law that prevents biological boys from competing in female school sports is constitutional and can remain in place.
In B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education, federal district Judge Joseph R. Goodwin ruled that B.P.J., a boy who wants to identify as a girl, does not have a right under the Equal Protection Clause or Title IX to participate on the girls’ cross-country and track teams at his middle school.
The American Civil Liberties Union and its West Virginia chapter filed the lawsuit in 2021 on behalf of the 11-year-old biological boy who wanted to compete in middle school cross-country in Harrison County.
