Several teen girls “stepped out” of their track & field event in West Virginia and refused to participate on Thursday after a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that transgender athletes must be allowed to compete in the girls categories.
The girls mounted their protest over being forced to compete against students born male at Bridgeport Middle School’s girl’s track & field event in Bridgeport, West Virginia.
The Video shows several girls stepping up to the shot put circle, then immediately stepping out of the ring without performing a throw. Girls from the school also refused to perform in the discus event.
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
The girls said that they were protesting that a male-born student was allowed to compete against them in the shot put event, according to Outkick.
Save women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines praised the girls on her Gaines for Girls podcast.
“It’s a sad day when the middle school girls have to be the adults in the room. Conceding your event is so much easier said than done, but these girls have the tenacity and ability to stand their ground,” Gaines said, adding, “I couldn’t be more proud of their bravery and willingness to show their raw emotion. Girls and women have had enough.”
The protest came after the 2-1 ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where two Democrat-appointed judges outvoted the lone dissenter to invalidate the law banning transgender athletes born male from competing in school sports in categories for the gender with which they identify.
Writing for the majority, Biden-appointed Judge Toby J. Heytens maintained that for transgender athletes, “a ‘choice’ between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is no real choice at all.”
“The defendants cannot expect that [plaintiff trans student Becky Pepper] will countermand her social transition, her medical treatment, and all the work she has done with her schools, teachers, and coaches for nearly half her life by introducing herself to teammates, coaches, and even opponents as a boy,” Heytens said in the opinion with which Judge Pamela A. Harris, appointed by Obama, agreed.
Judge G. Steven Agwas, appointed by George W. Bush in 2008, was the sole dissenter on the three-judge panel.
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