The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in two cases that could end the athletic careers of transgender girls across America, including 15-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson of West Virginia.
At a Glance
- Pepper-Jackson, a sophomore, placed third in discus last year in her first season
- West Virginia bans transgender girls from girls’ sports; 24+ states have similar laws
- The Court will rule on whether bans violate the Constitution or Title IX
- Decisions are expected by early summer
Why it matters: A ruling upholding the bans would force thousands of transgender students to quit sports or compete on teams that conflict with their gender identity.
Pepper-Jackson finished eighth in shot put and earned bronze in discus during the 2024 season. She began identifying as a girl in third grade and has taken puberty-blocking medication. The Supreme Court’s June decision upholding state bans on gender-affirming care for minors now requires her to travel out of state for treatment.
Legal Showdown
The justices will consider whether West Virginia’s law and Idaho’s similar statute violate the Constitution’s equal-protection clause or Title IX, the federal law barring sex discrimination in education. College student Lindsay Hecox challenged Idaho’s ban.
Lower courts have blocked West Virginia’s law, but the conservative-majority Supreme Court has recently allowed multiple restrictions on transgender people to take effect.
President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted transgender Americans since day one of his second term, including:
- Ousting transgender service members from the military
- Declaring gender immutable and fixed at birth
- Signing an executive order aimed at barring transgender women from women’s sports
The NCAA and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committees responded by banning transgender women from women’s sports after the order.
The Athlete
Pepper-Jackson trains at school, lifts weights, and practices in her backyard outside Bridgeport, West Virginia. Her improvement has been cited as evidence she should be barred from girls’ competition.
“There are immutable physical and biological characteristic differences between men and women that make men bigger, stronger, and faster than women,” said West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey. He added he knows of no other transgender athlete in the state seeking to compete in girls’ or women’s sports.
Despite the small numbers, the issue dominates headlines. An Associated Press-NORC poll conducted in October 2025 found 60 percent of U.S. adults favor requiring transgender minors to compete on teams matching their sex assigned at birth; 20 percent oppose; 25 percent have no opinion.
Cultural Battle
John Bursch of Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group leading challenges to transgender rights, frames the debate broadly:
> “There are cultural, political, legal headwinds all supporting this notion that it’s just a lie that a man can be a woman. And if we want a society that respects women and girls, then we need to come to terms with that truth.”
Heather Jackson, Pepper-Jackson’s mother, sees hatred behind the effort:
> “It’s nothing but hatred. This community is the community du jour. We have a long history of isolating marginalized parts of the community.”
Pepper-Jackson has faced hostility, including a competitor wearing a T-shirt reading, “Men Don’t Belong in Women’s Sports.”
> “I wish these people would educate themselves,” she said. “I’m just there to have a good time. It hurts sometimes, but I try to brush it off.”
Court papers allege Pepper-Jackson used graphic language to bully teammates. She denies the claim, noting the school found no evidence.
What’s Next
The Court’s 2020 ruling that workplace discrimination against transgender people is sex discrimination does not guarantee the same outcome here; the justices recently refused to extend that logic to health-care access for transgender minors.
If she loses, Pepper-Jackson will shift focus to weightlifting and playing trumpet in school bands.
> “It will hurt a lot, and I know it will, but that’s what I’ll have to do,” she said.
About 2.1 million adults (0.8 percent) and 724,000 teens (3.3 percent) identify as transgender in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute at UCLA.
Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court’s ruling, expected by summer, will set a national precedent
- More than half of states already restrict transgender athletes
- Public opinion leans toward restrictions, especially for minors
- The decision could affect locker-room access, shelters, and prisons beyond sports
