I’m at the Supreme Court today to protect transgender kids’ freedom to be themselves.
Our client, fifteen-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, just wants to play school sports on the girls’ team with her friends like any other girl. Yet the state of West Virginia has banned her from doing just that – all because she’s trans.
Politicians are targeting trans kids with bans on participating in school sports, even subjecting children to invasive and demeaning violations of their privacy. They think that by going after the most vulnerable among us – children – they can legitimize and advance their efforts to push trans people of all ages out of public life altogether.
The Trump administration’s attacks on trans people have been relentless – censoring speech, threatening health care, and forcing schools to drop policies protecting transgender youth. Youth sports are one more target of this sweeping campaign.
Since 2020, 27 states have banned transgender women and girls from playing school sports. 306 bills have been proposed in the last 5 years targeting trans athletes – more bans than there are trans athletes that these bans apply to.
It’s transparent: These bans are part of a broader effort to restrict the freedoms of trans people everywhere and advance an agenda to keep us all from having the right to live as our authentic selves.
Thanks for all you do,
Joshua Block
Pronouns: He, him, his
Senior Counsel, ACLU LGBT & HIV Project
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA