{"id":220181,"date":"2026-01-13T08:56:40","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T13:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/?p=220181"},"modified":"2026-01-13T17:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T22:24:13","slug":"live-coverage-west-virginia-v-b-p-j-scotus-arguments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/lgbtq-rights\/live-coverage-west-virginia-v-b-p-j-scotus-arguments","title":{"rendered":"Live Coverage: West Virginia v. B.P.J. SCOTUS arguments"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":228,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"metadata":[],"class_list":["post-220181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":{"header_layout":"standard","header_image":220193,"mobile_header_image":null,"description":"The ACLU is at the Supreme Court for oral arguments in West Virginia v. B.P.J. Follow live coverage of the fight to defend trans kids. ","authors":[2492],"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"live-updates","live-updates":{"description":"","update-items":[{"update_time":"2026-01-13 08:52:32","update_author":"","heading":"Oral Arguments in West Virginia v. B.P.J. Begin Soon ","content":"Good morning! The ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Lambda Legal are at the Supreme Court today for oral arguments in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/bpj-v-west-virginia-state-board-education\"><i>West Virginia v. B.P.J.<\/i><\/a>, where we\u2019re defending the future of Title IX and civil rights protections for transgender students.\r\n\r\nOver the last five years, politicians across the country have targeted transgender people and their families. They\u2019ve banned their health care, censored their speech, and made schools less safe for transgender youth. One of the most consistent focus areas for many of these politicians has been the rights of transgender student athletes, specifically the right of transgender girls, to play with other girls. While the overall number of transgender athletes is extremely small \u2014 most states have fewer than a handful of transgender students playing sports among 10s of thousands of student athletes \u2014 politicians have introduced hundreds of bills over the last few years targeting their ability to play.\r\n\r\nOur client, Becky Pepper-Jackson, is 15 years old and in the 10th grade. When she isn\u2019t hanging out with her friends, playing with her three dogs, or marching in her high school\u2019s marching band, she\u2019s throwing discus and shot put for her school\u2019s track and field team.\r\n\r\nWhen West Virginia passed a law banning transgender girls from participating in all school sports, Becky and her mother sued, arguing that West Virginia's law violated the Constitution and Title IX.\r\n\r\nNow, West Virginia has asked the Supreme Court to let them ban Becky\u2014the only transgender athlete in West Virginia\u2014from playing on her team. Follow along for live updates throughout the day.","image_video_field_group":{"image_video_options":"image","image_group":{"image":"","caption":"","credit":"","link-settings":"none","url":""},"video_group":{"video":null,"cover_image":null,"video_orientation":"standard"},"youtube_group":{"oembed-url":"","cover-image":null}}},{"update_time":"2026-01-13 09:17:35","update_author":"","heading":"Meet Our Client, Becky Pepper-Jackson ","content":"Becky Pepper-Jackson, the only trans kid in school sports in West Virginia, just wants to play with her friends \u2014 but politicians are hellbent on making that impossible.\r\n\r\nWe're at the Supreme Court today to defend her freedom to be herself on and off the field.","image_video_field_group":{"image_video_options":"youtube","image_group":{"image":null,"caption":"","credit":"","link-settings":"none","url":""},"video_group":{"video":null,"cover_image":null,"video_orientation":"standard"},"youtube_group":{"oembed-url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JPKOzdsiFWI","cover-image":220304}}},{"update_time":"2026-01-13 09:45:28","update_author":"","heading":"What\u2019s at Stake as the Supreme Court Takes Up Transgender Sports Bans","content":"Transgender student athletes represent a tiny fraction of athletes overall, but nevertheless, they\u2019ve become the focus of a relentless media campaign designed to make their participation seem like a threat to girls who are not transgender.\r\n\r\nPoliticians hope to use <i>West Virginia v. B.P.J.<\/i> to legitimize a broad range of discrimination against transgender people (and all LGBTQ people), excluding us not just from sports teams but from civil rights protections and pushing us further out of public life altogether.\r\n\r\n<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/lgbtq-rights\/whats-at-stake-as-the-supreme-court-takes-up-transgender-sports-bans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read more &gt;<\/a> <\/em>","image_video_field_group":{"image_video_options":"image","image_group":{"image":215835,"caption":"","credit":"","link-settings":"custom","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/lgbtq-rights\/whats-at-stake-as-the-supreme-court-takes-up-transgender-sports-bans"},"video_group":{"video":null,"cover_image":null,"video_orientation":"standard"},"youtube_group":{"oembed-url":"","cover-image":null}}},{"update_time":"2026-01-13 10:06:33","update_author":"","heading":"Listen Live: West Virginia v. B.P.J. Oral Arguments","content":"Oral arguments have started in West Virginia v. B.P.J. Listen now:","image_video_field_group":{"image_video_options":"youtube","image_group":{"image":null,"caption":"","credit":"","link-settings":"none","url":""},"video_group":{"video":null,"cover_image":null,"video_orientation":"standard"},"youtube_group":{"oembed-url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YEg57ZaFqKU","cover-image":220307}}},{"update_time":"2026-01-13 14:45:27","update_author":"","heading":"Trans Kids at SCOTUS: Our Freedom is More than a Game ","content":"The ACLU is in the Supreme Court to defend transgender students, and we need our whole community with us.\r\n\r\nIcons of women's sports like Megan Rapinoe, Sue Bird, Brianna Turner, Julie Foudy, and Breanna Stewart have already made themselves heard \u2013 with one thing loud and clear: Every kid should be allowed to grow up with the freedom to be themselves, on and off the field.\r\n\r\n<b>Add your name alongside these talented athletes, and together, we will be an unwavering force that these anti-trans politicians cannot ignore.<\/b>\r\n\r\n<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/action.aclu.org\/petition\/trans-kids-scotus-our-freedom-more-game\">Show your support: Our freedom is more than a game.<\/a> <\/strong>","image_video_field_group":{"image_video_options":"image","image_group":{"image":220454,"caption":"","credit":"","link-settings":"custom","url":"https:\/\/action.aclu.org\/petition\/trans-kids-scotus-our-freedom-more-game"},"video_group":{"video":null,"cover_image":null,"video_orientation":"standard"},"youtube_group":{"oembed-url":"","cover-image":null}}},{"update_time":"2026-01-13 15:47:59","update_author":"","heading":"The ACLU Community Rallies Outside SCOTUS","content":"While the ACLU and our partners were inside the Supreme Court for oral arguments in West Virginia v. B.P.J., our community showed up to rally in support of trans youth. Becky Pepper Jackson and every other trans student athlete in the nation deserve to play the sports they want to play and be their authentic selves. We'll defend that right every day of the year.","image_video_field_group":{"image_video_options":"image","image_group":{"image":220457,"caption":"","credit":"","link-settings":"none","url":""},"video_group":{"video":null,"cover_image":null,"video_orientation":"standard"},"youtube_group":{"oembed-url":"","cover-image":null}}},{"update_time":"2026-01-13 16:32:00","update_author":"","heading":"An Update From AJ Hikes Outside SCOTUS","content":"West Virginia came after Becky, the only openly trans student athlete in the state who just wants to play sports. So Becky took the state to court.","image_video_field_group":{"image_video_options":"video","image_group":{"image":null,"caption":"","credit":"","link-settings":"none","url":""},"video_group":{"video":220459,"cover_image":220470,"video_orientation":"vertical"},"youtube_group":{"oembed-url":"","cover-image":null}}},{"update_time":"2026-01-13 17:22:03","update_author":"","heading":"A message from our client, Becky Pepper-Jackson","content":"We went to the Supreme Court with a simple message: Let kids play.\r\n\r\nTo all transgender youth: We will always fight for your right to be your authentic self, on and off the field.","image_video_field_group":{"image_video_options":"video","image_group":{"image":null,"caption":"","credit":"","link-settings":"none","url":""},"video_group":{"video":220472,"cover_image":220473,"video_orientation":"vertical"},"youtube_group":{"oembed-url":"","cover-image":null}}}]}}],"featured_cases_section":{"enable_featured_cases":false,"title":"Featured Cases","description":"","featured_cases":null},"action":[219506],"issues":[46781,46567],"related_content_cases":[63013],"related_content_documents":"","related_content_publications":"","related_affiliates":"","content_layout":"standard","theme":"light","drupal_nid":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>American Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The ACLU is at the Supreme Court for oral arguments in West Virginia v. 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