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Us & Them Encore: The Right To Compete

There are new laws in more than 20 states — including West Virginia — that ban transgender girls and women from competing on girls and women’s teams. Transgender athletes say they want to play a sport they love. Some who support the new bans, say the laws are not anti-trans. Instead, they say the goal is to protect girls and women from competing against the biological advantages they believe transgender girls and women have.

At least 20 states have laws banning transgender girls and women from competing on girls and women’s sports teams.

In this encore episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay looks at the battle over gender and sports. Kay talks with transgender athletes who say they want to be who they truly are as they compete on the playing field.

We hear from a state lawmaker who says the new laws are not anti-trans, but rather designed to protect girls and women from unfair competition playing against transgender athletes.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows a transgender girl in West Virginia to compete on her middle school girls team for now, while a state lawsuit continues.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Taylor Edelmann was a transgender athlete when he was a student at SUNY Purchase. He played from 2009 to 2013. At first, Taylor competed on the women’s volleyball team. Then, he transitioned to the men’s squad.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Newspaper clipping of Taylor Edelmann has a high school volleyball standout.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Taylor Edelmann speaks with Us & Them host Trey Kay in the home where he grew up.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Patricia Rucker is a state senator for West Virginia’s 16th District. She co-sponsored a bill in 2021 that is now law in West Virginia. It bans transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams. Specifically, it limits girls sports to individuals “whose biological sex determined at birth is female.” The law applies to public school and collegiate athletes.

*Credit: Will Price/WV Legislative Photography*

Terry Schilling is president of American Principles Project. He says they work to pass laws that “protect and strengthen families, and protect the innocence of children.” Schilling says American Principles Project has a SuperPAC that runs campaign ads for and against candidates based on their record for “protecting or hurting families.” Schilling believes there is a transgender agenda — which he calls “transgenderism” — and he believes that it’s hurting American families.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Erica Smith and her Sweet Briar College field hockey and lacrosse teammate Ashley Maggiora are going through their summer workout.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Erica Smith and Ashley Maggiora take a break after practicing lacrosse passing.

*Credit: Trey Kay/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Legislature Begins Special Session And Making Crimes Stick, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Gov. Jim Justice called the legislature into special session Sunday afternoon, and News Director Eric Douglas speaks with WVU researchers about their work to analyze duct tape and make it even stronger evidence in court.

On this West Virginia Morning, Gov. Jim Justice called the legislature into special session Sunday afternoon to address the state’s corrections employment crisis, to help fund first responders and to clarify the vehicle tax rebate. Those are just 3 of 44 items on the governor’s call and Randy Yohe has our story.

News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Tatiana Trejos, an associate professor at the WVU Department of Forensic and investigative sciences to find out more about their work to analyze duct tape and make it even stronger evidence in court.

Also, Curtis Tate has the story of a transgender student in Harrison County that can continue to participate on her school’s track team after a federal court ruling, and Randy Yohe reports on a West Virginia communications workers union has agreed not to strike and continue contract negotiations.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Morrisey Takes Trans Sports Ban To The Supreme Court

In 2021, the West Virginia Legislature enacted a law “to defend the integrity of women’s sports” that prohibits transgender girls and women in the state from competing on sports teams at “any public secondary school or state institution of higher education.”

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the “Save Women’s Sports Act” to take effect.

The bill passed on April 28, 2021 and the ACLU filed a lawsuit on May 8, 2021. Since then Morrisey’s office has fought to dismiss the lawsuit.

“Today, we are stepping forward with a major announcement pertaining to a filing that we’ll be making later this afternoon to defend the integrity of women’s sports here in West Virginia,” Morrisey said. “We will be making a filing up at the United States Supreme Court in order to lift the injunction that was recently placed upon the Integrity In Women’s Sports Law in the Fourth Circuit.”

Morrisey was assisted by attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a self-proclaimed Christian-led legal organization, in filing this litigation.

Rachel Csutoros, legal counsel with the ADF called the filing a historical moment for all female athletes.

“It’s unfair, and it’s unsafe,” Csutoros said. “No males should be allowed to take athletic opportunities away from women. That’s why we’re giving the Supreme Court their first chance to protect women’s fairness and women’s sports from today’s threats. The Fourth Circuit was wrong to stop a valid law with no factual or legal basis. And we urge the Supreme Court to uphold West Virginia’s laws to respect the will of its state citizens and to preserve equal athletic opportunities for women and girls.”

Morrisey said the law protects female athletes’ safety and keeps female sports competitive for female athletes, consistent with Title IX and the Constitution.

Title IX was signed into law on June 23, 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.

“We talked about the 50th anniversary of Title Nine,” Morrisey said. “I think we should remember that today. It’s been so much good for women’s leadership and women’s sports. And I am optimistic of the result that we should be able to get from the high court.”

Appeals Court Blocks State Law Limiting Transgender Student Athletes

The student, represented by the ACLU of West Virginia and Lambda Legal, a national LGBTQ rights law firm, challenged a law enacted by the state legislature in 2021.

The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, for now, has ruled in favor of a transgender student in Harrison County who wanted to run on her middle school’s track team.

The student, represented by the ACLU of West Virginia and Lambda Legal, a national LGBTQ rights law firm, challenged a law enacted by the state legislature in 2021.

The law barred transgender students from participating in school sports in a manner consistent with their gender identity.

Last month, a U.S. District Court in Charleston upheld the law, House Bill 3293.

The law is now on hold while the Fourth Circuit considers the appeal. Two members of a three judge panel reinstated the preliminary injunction, and one dissented.

According to ACLU-WV, the student will be able to try out for her track team next week.

West Virginia Can Keep Transgender Sports Ban, Judge Says

A federal judge in West Virginia has ruled that the state’s ban on transgender athletes competing in female sports is constitutional and can remain in place.

West Virginia’s ban on transgender athletes competing in female school sports is constitutional and can remain in place, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The American Civil Liberties Union and its West Virginia chapter filed the lawsuit in 2021 on behalf of an 11-year-old transgender girl who hoped to compete in middle school cross-country in Harrison County. The lawsuit named the state and Harrison County boards of education and their superintendents as defendants.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey applauded Thursday’s decision by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Goodwin.

“This is not only about simple biology, but fairness for women’s sports, plain and simple,” the attorney general said. “Opportunities for girls and women on the field are precious and we must safeguard that future.”

The ACLU of West Virginia said Thursday that it is reviewing the decision with co-counsel to determine next steps. The ban applies to middle and high schools, as well as colleges.

Transgender athletes’ ability to compete in sports is the subject of a continuing national debate. More than a dozen states have passed laws banning or restricting transgender participation in sports based on the premise it gives them an unfair competitive advantage — despite the general lack of a problem to address.

A 2017 study by the Williams Institute at the UCLA law school used state-level, population-based surveys to estimate that West Virginia had the highest percentage (1.04 percent) of residents ages 13 to 17 among all states who identified as transgender. That equated to about 1,150 teens.

The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission, which oversees scholastic sports, said in 2021, when the lawsuit was filed, that it had not received any complaints about transgender athletes on girls teams.

The Right To Compete

There are new laws in more than a dozen states — including West Virginia — that ban transgender girls and women from competing on girls and womens teams. Transgender athletes say they want to play a sport they love. Some who support the new bans, say the laws are not anti-trans. Instead, they say the goal is to protect girls and women from competing against the biological advantages they believe transgender girls and women have.

More than a dozen states have new laws banning transgender girls and women from competing on girl’s and women’s sports teams. Recently, three states have limited medical care or treatment that supports gender affirming therapy.

On this episode of Us & Them, the battle over gender and sports. We’ll hear from transgender athletes who say they want to be who they truly are as they compete on the playing field.

We’ll hear West Virginia State Sen. Patricia Rucker who says the new laws are not anti-trans, but rather designed to protect girls and women from unfair competition playing against transgender athletes.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked West Virginia’s transgender sports ban but at least one national organization says it wants to extend the ban to any team that receives federal funding.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

Trey Kay

Taylor Edelmann was a transgender athlete when he was a student at SUNY Purchase. He played from 2009 to 2013. At first, Taylor competed on the women’s volleyball team. Then, he transitioned to the men’s squad.

Trey Kay

Newspaper clipping of Taylor Edelmann has a high school volleyball standout.

Trey Kay

Taylor Edelmann speaks with Us & Them host Trey Kay in the home where he grew up.

Will Price, WV Legislative Photography

WV Legislative Photography

Patricia Rucker is a State Senator for West Virginia’s 16th District. She co-sponsored a bill in 2021 that is now law in West Virginia. It bans transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams. Specifically, it limits girls sports to individuals “whose biological sex determined at birth is female.” The law applies to public school and collegiate athletes.

Trey Kay

Terry Schilling is president of American Principles Project. He says they work to pass laws that “protect and strengthen families, and protect the innocence of children.” Schilling says American Principles Project has a SuperPAC that runs campaign ads for and against candidates based on their record for “protecting or hurting families.” Schilling believes there is a transgender agenda — which he calls “transgenderism” — and he believes that it’s hurting American families.

Trey Kay

Erica Smith and her field hockey and lacrosse teammate Ashley Maggiora are going through a summer workout.

Trey Kay

Erica Smith and her Sweet Briar College field hockey and lacrosse teammate Ashley Maggiora are going through their summer workout.

Trey Kay

Erica Smith and Ashley Maggiora take a break after practicing lacrosse passing.