OnPolitics: Supreme Court takes up transgender sports ban case, sides with transgender girl

Hi there, OnPolitics readers!

The Supreme Court temporarily blocked a West Virginia ban on transgender athletes joining girls’ sports teams, siding with a 12-year-old transgender girl.

Here’s what we know: Becky Pepper-Jackson, a middle school student who competes on the girls’ cross-country and track-and-field teams, sued in federal court, saying the state's ban violates the Constitution and federal law.

The state’s 2021 law required public schools to create sports teams based on sex assigned at birth. 

Pepper-Jackson’s case, West Virginia v. B.P.J., is one of several other cases pending in court dealing with bans against transgender students.

So, what’s next?: The Supreme Court last debated transgender rights in 2019, sided with three employees who were fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

A 6-3 majority ruled in 2020 that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars workplace discrimination on the basis of “sex” includes sexual orientation and gender identity.  

However, as Supreme Court correspondent John Fritze reports, the court has since passed on a number of high-profile appeals.

🏛️ Keep reading:Supreme Court sides with 12-year-old transgender girl fighting West Virginia's sports ban

🏃‍♂️ In case you missed it: Bathrooms to ballfields: Transgender athlete ban one of many LGBTQ fights brewing in courts

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