Judge rules transgender West Virginia athlete should be allowed to run on the girls team
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A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction to allow a transgender middle schooler to run on the cross country team this fall.
U.S. Circuit Judge Joseph R. Goodwin issued the order Wednesday in the Southern District of West Virginia. Harrison County 11-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, along with lawyers from ACLU-West Virginia, had argued that the new law unfairly would have prevented her from participating on the girls cross country team at her school.
Goodwin’s 15-page order dismissed claims that the law was meant to protect the rights of female athletes, saying few transgender students want to participate in team sports in the first place.
“At this point, I have been provided scant evidence that this law addresses any problem at all, let alone an important problem,” Goodwin wrote. “When the government distinguishes between different groups of people, those distinctions must be supported by compelling reasons.”
“ A fear of the unknown and discomfort with the unfamiliar have motivated many of the most malignant harms committed by our country ….“
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