Several middle school girls who were forced to compete against a biological male who thinks he’s a woman boycotted the competition, according to footage obtained by Outkick.
The incident came after a federal appeals court struck down a West Virginia law that protects female athletes from male athletes who think they are women, which Townhall covered. The child at the center of the lawsuit, Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old “transgender” child, argued that the law prevented “her” from competing in girls’ competitions.
On Thursday, several females “stepped out” during the shot put and discus competitions at a track and field event that included Pepper-Jackson, who reportedly competes for the Bridgeport Middle School girls’ track and field team (via Outkick):
Bridgeport participated in the 2024 Harrison County Middle School Championships on Thursday afternoon at Liberty High School in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
Seven schools comprised the meet: Bridgeport, Heritage Christian, Notre Dame, South Harrison, Lincoln, Mountaineer (Clarksburg) and Washington Irving.
Several members of one of the girls' shot put teams "stepped in" then "stepped out" to protest the inclusion of a transgender athlete in the meet. The transgender athlete competes in both shot put and discus throwing.
When each of the Lincoln girls had her name called to compete, she stepped into the ring but instead of throwing the shot, she stepped down and refused to participate. They did the same for the discus event.
Riley Gaines, a former NCAA athlete who competed against Will “Lia” Thomas, a so-called “transgender” athlete, applauded the girls for stepping out of the competition.
“Middle school girls leading the way for all of us. Beyond brave!,” Gaines wrote on X. “Say no to cheating males.”
“It's a sad day when 13-14yr old girls have to be the adults in the room, but I couldn't be more inspired by and proud of these girls,” Gaines wrote in a follow-up post. “Enough is enough.”
🚨🚨FIVE middle school female athletes in West Virginia refuse to throw shot put against male, Becky Pepper-Jackson.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 19, 2024
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
Last week, Biden administration released new rules to protect LGBTQ+ individuals under the federal civil rights legislation Title IX. Going forward, the basis of “sex” now encompasses the concept of “gender identity.”
“With its new Title IX rewrite, the Biden administration is unilaterally erasing fifty years of equal opportunity law for women. The president and his administration can't act like they care about women or our opportunities and then go and wipe out women’s protections under the country’s landmark sex equality law,” Gaines said in response.