West Virginia
US appeals court finds West Virginia transgender sports ban violates anti-discrimination law
The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled on Tuesday that West Virginia’s ban on transgender girls competing on girls’ sports teams violates a transgender student’s rights under Title IX.
The law, which is known as the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” prohibits individuals who were assigned male at birth from competing on girls’ athletic teams. The act also says, however, that it shall not be “construed to restrict the eligibility of any student to participate in any… teams or sports designated as ‘males,’ ‘men,’ or boys.’” The court therefore found that the law prohibits only one category of students, transgender girls, from participating in sports teams that correspond with their gender.
The plaintiff, a 13-year-old transgender girl named Becky Pepper-Jackson, filed suit against the West Virginia State Board of Education in 2021. She claimed the act violated her right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment as well as her rights under Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally-funded educational programs.
The court found for the plaintiff on the Title IX claim, stating the plaintiff demonstrated that “applying the Act to her would treat her worse than people to whom she is similarly situated, deprive her of any meaningful athletic opportunities, and do so on the basis of sex.” The court stated, “‘[E]motional and dignitary harm… is legally cognizable under Title IX’ and it requires no feat of imagination to appreciate the ‘[t]he stigma of being’ unable to participate on a team with one’s friends and peers.” The ruling also stated that the act “goes further by requiring [the plaintiff] to take on additional harms to avoid forfeiting the ability to play school sports altogether.” Provided that the plaintiff has been publicly living as a girl for more than five years, changed her name and sex on her birth certificate, takes puberty-blocking medication, and has only participated on girls’ sports teams, the court found that “offering [her] a ‘choice’ between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is no real choice at all” and would “directly contradict the treatment protocols for gender dysphoria.”
The court declined to overrule the law or prohibit government officials from creating and drawing the line between separate teams for boys and girls. The ruling stated, “We also do not hold that Title IX requires schools to allow every transgender girl to play on girls’ teams, regardless of whether they have gone through puberty and experienced elevated levels of circulating testosterone.” The court also reversed the lower court’s decision that found in the defendants’ favor on the equal protection claim and sent that issue back to the lower court.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed the bill into law in April 2021, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of West Virginia, and LGBTQ+ rights group Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of the plaintiff a month later. Legal Director of the ACLU of West Virginia Aubrey Sparks celebrated the court’s ruling, stating, “We hope today’s ruling sends a message of hope to the trans youth of West Virginia… and a message of warning to politicians who continue to dehumanize this vulnerable population.”
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, however, said he planned to appeal the ruling. He stated, “We must keep working to protect women’s sports so that women’s safety is secured and girls have a truly fair playing field.”
West Virginia is one of 24 states that ban transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. In January, the Ohio legislature overrode the governor’s veto of a bill that would restrict transgender participation in sports, but an Ohio court temporarily blocked that ban on Tuesday. Earlier this month, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers vetoed a bill that would require schools to separate sports based on students’ assigned sex at birth.
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Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center – Opened in 1913, the Robinson Grand is located at 444 W. Pike Street, Clarksburg. It is contributing to the Clarksburg Downtown Historic District, and was designed and is still used for cinema, live performances and as an events venue.
Elk Theater – The Elk Theater was opened in 1940 and is located at 192 Main Street, Sutton. It is contributing to the Sutton Downtown Historic District. It was designed and is still used for Cinema and Live Performances.
West Virginia
Oklahoma State basketball vs. West Virginia: Prediction, picks for Cowgirls-Mountaineers
OSU women’s basketball coach Jacie Hoyt with baby Harlow, who got her first Big 12 win
OSU women’s basketball coach Jacie Hoyt with baby Harlow, who got her first Big 12 win
STILLWATER — One quick look at the top part of the Big 12 women’s basketball standings tells you how big this West Virginia at Oklahoma State game is.
The Cowgirls (13-2, 3-1 Big 12) are tied for third place in the league with WVU (13-2, 3-1), and while there’s a lot of basketball left to be played, this game could be important as the standings shake out in late February.
Here’s what you need to know about the matchup:
A duel of conflicting strengths
Though OSU’s offense has been struggling lately, it still remains the best in the Big 12, putting up 84.4 points per game. West Virginia, on the other hand, is the second-best defense in the league, giving up just 51.1 points per game.
The Cowgirls’ recent shooting struggles are the bigger concern. They’ve scored just 66 and 64 points in the last two games, most recently defeating Cincinnati 64-48.
Can Anna Gret Asi heat up?
A key piece of Oklahoma State’s offensive attack is combo guard Anna Gret Asi, but the senior hasn’t been seeing shots fall lately.
Over the last two games, Asi is 1 for 16 from the floor and 0 for 12 from 3-point range. That has dropped her 3-point percentage from 42.9% to 37.1%.
Cowgirls must avoid turnovers
OSU’s guard-heavy lineup has been reliable in taking care of the ball this season, averaging just 14.2 turnovers per game.
That will be critical in holding off WVU on Saturday. The Mountaineers rank fourth nationally and well ahead of everyone else in the Big 12 in turnovers forced, causing 25.9 per game.
How to watch OSU-West Virginia women
The Cowgirls and Mountaineers will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 2 p.m. Saturday. Streaming for the game can be found here. The OSU radio broadcast will be on KGFY 105.5 FM.
Score prediction for OSU-West Virginia women
West Virginia 64, OSU 63: A few key Cowgirls, like Asi, have been cold from the floor in recent games, and that trend is sure to turn in their favor soon. But West Virginia’s defense might be catching OSU at the ideal time to steal a road win.
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West Virginia is one of the most successful programs in college football history. As a matter of fact, they are the winningest team in college football without a national championship.
Is that a good thing? Well, yes and no.
It shows that the program has consistently won and is at a high enough level to be among the best programs in the country. However, it’s certainly not a label that Mountaineers fans are exactly proud of. The 1988 and 2007 seasons are still burned into the memory bank of WVU fans and getting back to the big dance in this day and age is a tall task.
The Mountaineers entered the 1988 Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame with an unblemished record and clobbered many of their opponents on their path to the big game. Unfortunately, star dual-threat quarterback Major Harris injured his shoulder on the third play of the game and wasn’t the same player the rest of the game. The Mountaineers would fall to the Fighting Irish 34-21.
In 2007, well you all Mountaineer fans know the story. But for those who don’t, West Virginia entered the final week of the season ranked second in the country and all they needed to do was beat a 3-8 Pitt team in the Backyard Brawl, at home, to secure a spot in the national championship.
The high-powered WVU offense went stagnant as star quarterback Pat White injured his non-throwing hand early in the game. White didn’t return until late in the fourth quarter and the Panthers were able to hang on to pull off the stunning upset, defeating the Mountaineers 13-9.
That was the last time WVU has been on the doorstep of a national title.
So, which team in the NFL has shared that same level of misery yet has been a consistently winning organization? That would be the Minnesota Vikings.
They have the best winning percentage of any team in the NFL who have yet to win a Super Bowl. Only the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins, and Kansas City Chiefs have a better winning percentage, but they all have Lombardi Trophies.
Now, technically, the Detroit Lions have the most wins of any NFL team without a Super Bowl win, but they have a winning percentage of .455, so it’s not exactly an accurate representation of the success West Virginia has had at the collegiate level.
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