Attorney General Patrick Morrisey appeared today alongside a former college soccer player who has been intervening in a federal court case challenging the application of the state’s law affecting transgender athletes.
“She’s a recent graduate of West Virginia State University, and what a courageous young woman — and I’m just so humbled that she made it here today as well,” Morrisey said during public statements about the federal case and applications of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.
Right now in federal court, lawyers are arguing over whether Lainey Armistead’s position in the case remains valid after she graduated from West Virginia State this spring.
“Ms. Armistead has now graduated from WVSU and is a rising law school student in Florida with no concrete plans to play on any scholastic women’s soccer team, never mind in West Virginia,” wrote lawyers challenging her position in the case.
“Ms. Armistead’s graduation from WVSU severs her already tenuous connection to this litigation.”
Armistead was a college junior from Owensboro, Ky., when lawyers helped her file the motion to intervene in September, 2021. She received legal support from attorney Brandon Steele, who is also chairman of the House Government Organization Committee, along with lawyers from the national Alliance Defending Freedom.
West Virginia’s policy was challenged in court after the state joined dozens of states placing restrictions on transgender athletes’ participation on sports teams.
West Virginia’s law says “any student aggrieved by a violation of this section may bring an action” against a county board of education or college “alleged to be responsible for the alleged violation.”
A trial over the challenge of West Virginia’s law is imminent, set to begin July 26 in the Charleston courtroom of U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin.
Armistead’s motion to intervene in 2021 indicated she has sought to defend West Virginia’s law that defines male and female “based solely on the individual’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” That definition doesn’t take gender identity into account.
“This Court deserves to hear from the very parties most protected by the Sports Act, most affected by attempts to eviscerate its protections, and most motivated to aggressively defend the law,” wrote lawyers for Armistead that year.
The core of the lawsuit focuses on Harrison County middle schooler Becky Pepper-Jackson, whose lawyers have argued that the new law unfairly would have prevented her from participating on the girls cross country team at her school.
The middle schooler is supported by lawyers from ACLU-West Virginia and Lambda Legal. In recently-filed court documents, those lawyers contend Armistead’s interests don’t intersect with the eligibility of the middle schooler.
Lawyers for Armistead and for the state have countered that her perspective is important to be represented in the case.
“From the beginning of her involvement, Lainey Armistead has made valuable and unique contributions in this case,” wrote Curtis Capehart, a lawyer for the state Attorney General’s Office in a June 9 filing to try to argue that she should remain as a participant.
He described Armistead as a biological female college soccer player who might have to compete against an opponent who was born male.
“Lainey Armistead is the only individual in this case who represents the view of a biological female athlete who agrees with the Legislature that the statue is beneficial,” he wrote.
Armistead’s own lawyers also contend that her perspective remains valid, saying she still has three years of college eligibility remaining.
“Ms. Armistead’s unexpected early graduation from WVSU does not change these facts,” lawyers for Armistead wrote. “Ms. Armistead intends to continue playing soccer in some capacity during law school, and she has nearly a lifetime of experience playing soccer — including three years as a collegiate athlete at WVSU — to draw from.”
Armistead appeared with the attorney general today for public statements about Title IX and the lawsuit over the participation of transgender athletes.
“No young woman should be forced to compete against a male in her sport. It’s unfair and it’s unsafe,” Armistead said today. “No biological male should be allowed to take opportunities away from women. Ignoring the biological differences between men and women is a huge loss for women, especially when we fought so hard for our right to compete in the first place.”
To applause, she concluded, “I’m here with the simple message for women and girls in West Virginia: I’ve got your back.”
Morrisey said his office is confident in its position as the trial over West Virginia’s law draws near.
“We have to strenuously defend the positive changes and opportunities that have been created over the last half-century. That means keeping sports fair and safe for athletes of both sexes. That means keeping the sexes separated,” Morrisey said, mentioning the high-profile case of Lia Thomas, who competed on Penn’s men’s team from 2017 to 2020 and then the women’s team last year
He suggested that whatever the result at the federal circuit level, he anticipates later consideration by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and potentially by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This is something we’re gearing up for, and we’re preparing a record that’s second to none,” Morrisey said.