CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s top elected officials are praising a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upholds the state’s Save Women’s Sports Act, calling the decision a historic affirmation of fairness, Title IX protections and state authority over school athletics.
The Court ruled 9–0 on the Title IX question and 6–3 on the Equal Protection issue in West Virginia, et al. v. B.P.J., reversing a Fourth Circuit decision and allowing the state to fully enforce its 2021 law requiring participation in girls’ and women’s sports to be based on biological sex.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito said the ruling protects the integrity of women’s athletics and reinforces long‑standing federal protections.
“I applaud the Supreme Court for upholding West Virginia’s common sense law to protect girls’ sports,” Capito said. “As an athlete myself and the mother of a daughter who played a college sport, I believe strongly that allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports undermines the very fairness and protections Title IX was designed to provide. We must recommit ourselves to protecting female athletes and ensure they can always compete on a level playing field.”
Capito noted her years of advocacy on the issue, including cosponsoring the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and joining letters and briefs urging national athletic organizations to adopt sex‑based eligibility policies.
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey, whose office argued the case before the Supreme Court in January, called the ruling a “monumental victory” for female athletes nationwide.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision affirms what common sense and the law have long made clear: states have the right to designate sports teams based on biological sex, not gender identity,” McCuskey said. “Without that delineation, Title IX is turned on its head, and decades of hard‑fought progress to advance female athletes are erased.”
McCuskey said the ruling provides clarity for states with similar laws and praised Solicitor General Michael Williams and the legal team for securing the decision.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who initiated the case during his tenure as Attorney General, said the ruling will be remembered as one of the most significant moments for women’s athletics since Title IX.
“Today’s decision will be remembered as one of the most important victories for women’s athletics since the enactment of Title IX itself,” Morrisey said. “Future generations of female athletes will benefit from the certainty, fairness, and opportunity this decision protects.”
Morrisey said the case placed West Virginia at the center of a national debate over sports eligibility and praised both his former staff and the current Attorney General’s Office for seeing the case through.
The Save Women’s Sports Act restricts biological males from competing on girls’ teams involving competitive skill or contact, while allowing participation on boys’ or co‑ed teams. The student at the center of the lawsuit, now a high school sophomore, continued competing during the appeals process and won a state track championship while the case was pending.
With the ruling, West Virginia joins 27 states that have enacted laws or regulations limiting participation in girls’ sports to biological females. Officials say the decision provides long‑awaited clarity for schools, athletic associations and policymakers across the country.
