Five West Virginia middle school girls who protested a male participating in their track and field competition have been banned from competing at a future meet.
That’s right – girls are being banned from female athletics so boys can compete. You can’t get more backwards and unjust than that.
It all started on April 18, when the five girls attended the 2024 Harrison County Middle School Championships track and field meet, set to compete in the shot-put.
Two days earlier, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion in B.P.J. v. West Virginia State Board of Education, ruling West Virginia’s “Save Women’s Sports Act” was unconstitutional, thereby permitting boys to compete against girls in the state.
In the opinion, the court deceptively refers to the male athlete – who filed suit against West Virginia’s law – with incorrect female pronouns. West Virginia and Alliance Defending Freedom are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Fourth Circuit’s ruling, but for now, the decision remains in effect.
The male that filed the lawsuit against West Virginia’s Act competed in the shot-put event on April 18. To protest the Fourth Circuit’s decision – and the male athlete’s continued competition against them – the five girls stepped out of the shot-put ring, refusing to compete.
Women’s rights advocate Riley Gaines posted video of the girls’ protest.
🚨🚨FIVE middle school female athletes in West Virginia refuse to throw shot put against male, Becky Pepper-Jackson.
This comes just 2 days after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the WV law that says you must compete in the category that matches your sex.
It's a… pic.twitter.com/RzMgh4jVRU
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 19, 2024
In punishment for their brief and silent protest, Lincoln Middle School principial Lori Scott has banned the girls from participating in a future scheduled track and field competition.
In response, four of the five girls, via their parents, filed a lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of Education. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has filed an amicus brief (“friend-of-the-court brief”) in support of the girls.
“I will always defend the young women who have to face such injustice,” the attorney general said in a post on X. “These young girls are courageous!”
After the girls’ suspension, Gaines said,
Rather than banning the boy from girls sports, they ban the girls from girls sports. You can’t make this stuff up. Sue them into oblivion.
She posted again about the girls’ suspension on X:
These girls stood up for what they believed and their coach barred them from competing. Insane.
It's dangerous to teach young girls to ignore the threats their eyes and ears are warning them of. How do some call this "progress"? https://t.co/cBd3HTIgDw pic.twitter.com/CkRSjBrTZ9
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 29, 2024
Retweeting Gaines’ post, Attorney General Morrisey said,
I will do everything in my power to defend these brave young girls. This is just wrong. We must stand for what’s right and oppose these radical trans policies. Thanks to @Riley_Gaines_ for her leadership on this critical issue.
Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Rachel Rouleau announced the appeal of the Fourth Circuit’s decision on April 24.
“Women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field, but activists – along with the Biden administration – are seeking to erase differences between men and women by forcing women’s sports leagues to allow men to compete,” Rouleau said in a statement, adding,
It is common sense that men competing against women creates huge disadvantages and safety concerns, but the 4th Circuit failed to protect what is just for women and girls. We look forward to joining West Virginia in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to protect fairness and safety for female athletes.
The five girls involved in the protest should be commended for their bravery and courage of conviction – not condemned and suspended from further competitions.
As ludicrous and unbelievable as this story is, it perhaps highlights the darkness of our time in an even clearer light.
Women are being punished for attempting to maintain their sex-segregated spaces and sports. After decades of working hard for equal opportunities, women are having their sports and spaces invaded by men under the guise of gender ideology.
And if women disagree with this gender dogma and deign to speak out about it – or knowingly forfeit a competition in protest, for example – they will be punished for daring to disagree with the left’s new orthodoxy.
We live in crazy and dark times, though we may wish that we didn’t.
“And so do all who live to see such times,” said Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. “But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
The five girls in the story chose to sacrifice their talent in pursuit of a greater good. And good for them.
The courage of these middle school girls should be example to all of us. We should ask ourselves, “What can I do, and what am I willing to do, to defend the biological reality of male and female and stand up for truth and justice?”
If you’re worried about what your child is being taught in school, check out the following resource from Focus on the Family: Back to School for Parents: A busy parent’s guide to what’s happening in your children’s classrooms and practical steps you can take to protect them.
Focus on the Family offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a counseling consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.
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Photo from Alliance Defending Freedom.
