07-05-2025
Gov. Morrisey says student-athletes should be allowed to ‘take a stand' against transgender student injunction
CHARLESTON, (WBOY) — West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey released a statement on Tuesday speaking against track and field coaches who he said are reportedly 'threatening to force girl track and field athletes to compete' amid an injunction that allows a transgender athlete to compete on a girl's team.
In the statement, Morrisey alleged that some track and field coaches were threatening athletes with suspension if they chose not to compete against 'a boy.' A suspension could impact a student's eligibility to participate in the WVSSAC State Track Meet on May 23-24, which Morrisey says 'cannot stand.'
Although Morrisey did not give specifics, he was likely referring to the case of B.P.J., a transgender student who was granted an injunction to compete on the girls team at Bridgeport despite being assigned male at birth. In his Tuesday statement, Morrisey called the injunction 'wrongly-decided.'
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He asked that coaches 'let these brave athletes take a stand for what is right without unfair punishment,' and that officials 'keep a full set of results so that true winners of each event may be recognized when the Supreme Court rules in our favor.'
Morrisey has asked that the case of West Virginia's 'Save Women's Sports Act' be taken to the Supreme Court. The law, which requires athletes to compete based on the sex they were assigned at birth, was deemed unconstitutional by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals last year.
Several student-athletes at Lincoln Middle School were suspended from competition in 2024 after protesting the Fourth Circuit Court ruling by choosing not to throw in the shot put field event. A federal court later granted an injunction to those athletes.
Below is the guidance on student protests from the WVSSAC Rules and Regulations Handbook for 2024-2025:
If a team, or student participating in an individual contest, leaves the playing area in protest and fails to complete the contest, the contest is forfeited and the school principal or designee and the violator may be required to appear before the WVSSAC Executive Director to indicate why additional action should not be taken.
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