Alliance Defending Freedom Fights for Fairness In West Virginia Women's Sports

Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom and the West Virginia state attorney general's office have filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit asking it to suspend the injunction that is holding up full implementation of the law protecting women's sports.

In March 2021, West Virginia enacted House Bill 3293, which explicitly outlined the definitions of male and female for the purpose of interscholastic events as determined "solely on the individual's reproductive biology and genetics at birth."

The law aimed to ensure fairness among male and female athletes, acknowledging the inherent physical differences.

Following the enactment of H.B. 3293, a legal challenge emerged when a male student who identifies as female, attending Bridgeport Middle School, filed a lawsuit, B.P.J v West Virginia State Board of Education, asking the 4th Circuit to halt enforcement of the law while on appeal so that the athlete could compete on the girls' track team.  

The court granted the request, relying on the athlete's repeated assurances that the injunction "will harm no one." 

However, the motion seeking to lift the injunction on appeal attests that three months since the injunction was granted, significant developments have occurred. Notably, the male athlete's physical advantages and athletic prowess have undergone substantial improvement, leading to a situation where the athlete is consistently outperforming and consequently displacing female athletes from their rightful athletic opportunities.

In the motion, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys point to the fact that "B.P.J. has recently climbed up the rankings, pushing biologically female students off the leaderboard and taking limited spots at track meets that would have otherwise gone to others." 

The attorneys provided statistics that show that "B.P.J. is outpacing girls in performance growth at an unusual rate" and attest that it is not accurate to say that "'[t]here is no risk' that B.P.J.'s performance would markedly improve; it already has."

The new motion asks the court to lift the injunction during the ongoing appeal process to keep female athletes in West Virginia from any additional harm.

ADF Senior Counsel Christiana Kiefer says that ignoring biological reality and allowing males to compete on girls' sports teams harms girls and denies them athletic opportunities—even in middle school.

"This male athlete's athletic success demonstrates that the injunction against West Virginia's women's sports law is undeniably causing multiple girls to suffer, and we urge the 4th Circuit to take immediate action and restore a fair playing field for female athletes," Kiefer said.

"The results from the recent spring track-and-field season speak for themselves: [The male athlete] is displacing girls out of top spots in competition and off of coveted roster spots at championship and other meets. This undeniable, quantitative evidence constitutes a significant change that makes it inequitable to leave the injunction in place because it will injure yet more girls in the fall season," she added in a statement on Alliance Defending Freedom Media.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, marriage and family, and the sanctity of life.

Alliance Defending Freedom's commitment to protecting free speech and religious freedom goes beyond domestic boundaries. Through its global arm, Alliance Defending Freedom International, the organization actively participates in legal and governance matters in 104 nations in partnership with allied attorneys.