The ACLU stood before the United States Supreme Court and swore Becky Pepper-Jackson has no competitive advantage over girls.
That was January.
Now it's May – and Pepper-Jackson just won the West Virginia girls' state shot put championship by more than two feet.
The Argument That Just Collapsed on the Track
ACLU attorney Joshua Block told the justices that "if the evidence shows there are no relevant physiological differences between B.P.J. and other girls, then there's no basis to exclude her."
West Virginia just provided the evidence.
At the Class AAA state championship on May 23, Pepper-Jackson – a biological male – threw the shot put 38 feet, 11.75 inches.
The second-place finisher, Paislee Babiczuk, managed 36 feet, 11 inches.
That's not a close race.
That's not a competitive field held back by a slightly better athlete.
https://twitter.com/bourne_beth2345/status/2013116243746983998?s=20
That's a male body doing what male bodies do against female competition.
It wasn't a one-off.
During the 2026 outdoor spring season, Pepper-Jackson competed in seven tournaments, winning the shot put five times and the discus four times.
West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey sent a letter directly to the Supreme Court on May 26 – while the justices are still drafting their ruling – pointing out exactly what happened.
The ACLU had previously told the court that Pepper-Jackson finished "near the back of the pack."
McCuskey demolished that claim with results data: Pepper-Jackson "is not finishing 'near the back of the pack,' but is instead defeating every – or nearly every – female in the State in these events."
He asked the justices to circulate the letter to every member of the court.
Five Years of Fighting to Compete Against Girls
The ACLU filed suit in 2021 – when Pepper-Jackson was 11 years old – after West Virginia passed the Save Women's Sports Act, banning biological males from female sports in middle school, high school, and college.
A district court initially upheld the law.
The ACLU appealed and flipped the Fourth Circuit in a 2-1 ruling.
The Supreme Court allowed Pepper-Jackson to keep competing while the case worked its way up – and that temporary permission is what put a biological male on the starting line at a girls' state championship.
https://twitter.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/2059831933471994317?s=20
ADF attorney Suzanne Beecher said no amount of hormone intervention cancels out the biological advantages males carry into competition.
"The developments from the state meet from this past weekend just underscore the fact that no amount of testosterone suppression or intervention can undo the very real differences that males have over women," Beecher said. "It really cuts against the ACLU's argument."
Governor Patrick Morrisey didn't mince words.
"It's just plain wrong to allow a boy to participate and win a girls' sporting event," he said, adding that West Virginia will continue recognizing the real winners of these championships.
What Nine Justices Are About to Decide
The Supreme Court heard more than three hours of argument in January.
Chief Justice John Roberts signaled skepticism toward what he called a transgender "exception" for sex-based laws.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed directly to the harm these policies impose on biological girls and their sports teams.
West Virginia Solicitor General Michael Williams put it simply: biological sex matters in athletics "in ways both obvious and undeniable."
He argued that the ACLU's reading of Title IX turns a law designed to protect girls into one that strips opportunities from them.
This is a pattern, not an isolated incident.
https://twitter.com/hecheateddotorg/status/2054281754060456039?s=20
Last year, transgender athletes won state titles in California and Washington.
In California, the state rewrote its championship rules in real time – bumping displaced female athletes up one podium spot – because the situation became politically untenable even in Sacramento.
That fix papered over the injustice and called it inclusion.
The ruling in West Virginia v. B.P.J. is coming before summer.
Twenty-six states have passed laws similar to West Virginia's Save Women's Sports Act, and whatever the court decides will define girls' athletics across America.
The ACLU spent five years arguing that Becky Pepper-Jackson holds no meaningful advantage over the girls he competes against.
West Virginia just sent nine justices a shot put result that says otherwise.
Sources:
- Jackson Thompson, "Trans athlete at center of Supreme Court Title IX case wins girls' track and field state championship," OutKick/Fox News, May 28, 2026.
- "Male athlete in Supreme Court transgender sports case placed high in girls' state championships: West Virginia AG," Washington Examiner, May 27, 2026.
- "Teen transgender athlete in case before Supreme Court wins girls' state track championship," Washington Times, May 27, 2026.
- West Virginia Office of the Attorney General John B. McCuskey, Letter to the Supreme Court, May 26, 2026.
- "AG McCuskey ready to defend West Virginia law protecting sports for biological girls, women at U.S. Supreme Court," News and Sentinel, January 9, 2026.
- "Transgender athletes in girls' sports spark nationwide controversies in 2024–25," Fox News, June 4, 2025.