Five female middle schoolers from West Virginia who protested a biological male’s participation in a track and field competition have been banned from future meets.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of Education on behalf of the student-athletes who refused to participate in their shot-put competition.

“The 5 girls from Lincoln Middle School in West Virginia who protested a trans student participating in shot put by refusing to participate, have been banned from school sports. Harrison County Board of Education made the decision, and now they’re being sued by the states Attorney General,” Travis Media Group wrote.

“The trans girl, who is also the student behind the lawsuit against the states law forcing students to participate in the sport based on birth gender, won the event,” the group added.

“Their actions at the earlier track meet were not disruptive or aggrandizing. They were the quiet demonstration of the student-athletes’ evident unhappiness with the competitive consequences of a federal appellate court’s decision,” Morrisey wrote in the amicus brief, according to West Virginia Watch.

Per West Virginia Watch:

The girls’ competition forfeiture followed a federal appeals court ruling in favor of West Virginia teen Becky Pepper-Jackson, a trans girl who uses puberty blocking medication. The girl sued the state over its law barring trans athletes from competing on girls’ and women’s sports teams in public schools and colleges.

The law doesn’t ban trans males from competing on boys’ or mens’ teams.

The federal appeals court ruling only blocked the state’s transgender sports ban in Pepper-Jackson’s case; it did not overturn the state law in its entirety.

The AG announced last week that he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on if the state can enforce its transgender athlete ban in Pepper-Jackson’s case.

Morrisey is currently running for governor in a tight Republican primary race ahead of the May election.

WATCH:

From the New York Post:

Joined by one of Becky’s classmates on Wednesday, Morrisey said he plans to ask the US Supreme Court to hear the case involving the state’s restrictions on transgender student-athletes for a second time.

Former collegiate swimmer-turned-activist Riley Gaines, who has been an outspoken critic of trans athletes participating in girls’ sporting events, has weighed in on the issue, writing, “These girls stood up for what they believed and their coach barred them from competing. Insane” in a post on X on Monday.

Morrisey quote-tweeted Gaines’ message, noting he plans to do “everything in my power to defend these brave young girls.”

“This is just wrong. We must stand for what’s right and oppose these radical trans policies. Thanks to @Riley_Gaines_ for her leadership on this critical issue.”

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