Protecting Title IX: We are at the National Forefront as SCOTUS Reviews Our ‘Save Girls Sports Act’

The Family Policy Council of WV is celebrating a historic legal milestone, following news that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., a case that will determine the future of our state’s Save Women’s Sports Act. The Family Policy Council served as the lead advocate for the law’s passage in 2021 and has worked tirelessly to ensure its constitutional defense.

The Save Women’s Sports Act (House Bill 3293) ensures that participation in school sports is determined based on biological sex, not gender identity. The law was enacted to preserve fairness, competitive integrity, and safety for girls and women in middle school, high school, and collegiate athletics.

The Supreme Court’s review of the case comes after a divided Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that narrowed—but did not strike down—the law. That ruling focused specifically on one transgender-identifying student, leaving the law’s broader application in legal limbo. The Supreme Court’s decision will now determine whether West Virginia and other states have the constitutional authority to distinguish athletic competition by biological sex.

This law is commonsense, compassionate, and constitutional. It does not target anyone—it simply protects the rights of female athletes. Title IX was passed to ensure girls have the same opportunities as boys, not to invite boys onto the girls’ teams. West Virginia’s law reflects that original purpose, and we are confident it will be upheld.

Not to mention the physical dangers and disadvantages, the participation of biological males in female sports places female athletes at a significant disadvantage in the competition for college scholarships. These scholarships, often tied directly to athletic performance and achievements in single-sex sports, are a vital pathway to higher education for many young women. When transgender athletes compete in and dominate girls’ divisions, it skews competitive outcomes and reduces the number of opportunities available to biological females. At the same time, some scholarship-granting institutions have adopted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies that can prioritize the inclusion of transgender athletes as part of broader equity goals, further tilting the scales. This dual pressure—competitive displacement and institutional preference—undermines decades of progress made under Title IX and threatens to erase hard-fought gains in educational and athletic opportunities for women.

We are honored to be leading the nation in this pivotal moment, setting legal and cultural precedents that protect the rights, safety, and opportunities of females across America. This case has the potential to create a national precedent that will shape the future of women’s sports, and we are humbled to play a central role in preserving the hard-won protections of Title IX for generations to come.

The Family Policy Council of West Virginia will continue to amplify the voices of female athletes and parents who have championed the right to genuine fairness.