![NJ Acts to Defend Transgender Girl in WV Banned From School Track Team](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2023/04/attachment-Untitled-design-2023-04-05T082222.470.jpg?w=980&q=75)
NJ Acts to Defend Transgender Girl in WV Banned From School Track Team
(Photo credits: ACLU/NJ State Police)
Gov. Phil Murphy's administration is coming to the defense of transgender student in West Virginia who has been banned from joining her school's all-girls sports teams.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin filed an amicus brief in support of the student's lawsuit challenging a West Virginia state law that bans transgender students from joining sports teams that align with their gender identity. The law was passed in 2021.
The ACLU, which helped bring the lawsuit in 2021, says 11-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson "comes from a family of avid runners and was looking forward to trying out for the girls’ cross-country team as she prepared to start middle school."
Pepper-Jackson is quoted by the ACLU as saying she comes from a family of runners, and just want to run. "I know how hurtful a law like this is to all kids like me who just want to play sports with their classmates, and I’m doing this for them," she says, "Trans kids deserve better.”
On Tuesday, New Jersey's attorney general joined 17 other state's attorneys general in supporting the continuation of Pepper-Jackson's suit.
In his message to the court, Platkin argued the law, HB 3293, has the sole function "to exclude and stigmatize transgender girls like B.P.J.," and argued it violates federal equal protection laws.
Platkin and his fellow attorneys general are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to intervene and overturn a lower court dismissal of Pepper-Jackson's lawsuit.
On Twitter, Platkin wrote, "Prejudice on the field, court, or track is illegal in NJ and should be nationwide. Today we're fighting West Virginia's ban on transgender athletes."
Gov. Phil Murphy has been aggressive in defending LGBTQ rights in New Jersey, especially non-binary and transgender individuals.
Murphy recently announced the creation of a state-run website that serves as a portal to connect transgender residents with legal, health and mental health services.
How much your school district gets under Murphy's proposed 2024 budget
LOOK: Food and Personal Care Shortages We Could See In 2023
More From WPG Talk Radio 95.5 FM
![Man citing ‘medical episode’ dies after arrest in Toms River, NJ](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/04/attachment-trpd-.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Appeals court leaves temporary hold on NJ’s county line ballot](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2023/11/attachment-nuddke.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Fatal crash on Route 70 involves motorcycle, NJ state trooper](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/04/attachment-Rt-70A.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![NJ police accused of covering up domestic assault by NYPD cop](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/03/attachment-Paterson-officers-accused-of-coverup-.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Where the guns are: New Jersey reveals who’s packing](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/03/attachment-Untitled-design-15.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![NJ mayor says NJ too soft on crime after merchant’s son victimized twice](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/03/attachment-Patel-1A.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![NJ’s unique primary ballot design seems to face skepticism from judge in lawsuit](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/03/attachment-Election_2024_Senate_New_Jersey_24078816485186.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Democratic mayor calls for NJ getting tough on violent youth criminals](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/03/attachment-Edison-1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Murphy seeks to create thousands of new ‘gun free zones’ in NJ](http://townsquare.media/site/385/files/2024/03/attachment-Untitled-design-111.jpg?w=980&q=75)