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BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — <\/span>High school athlete Becky Pepper-Jackson<\/a> takes her position in the throwing circle, tunes out any distractions, then pivots and tosses the discus into the evening twilight.<\/p>\n Her focus is simple. Whether it\u2019s trying to improve on a third-place finish at last year\u2019s West Virginia state track meet or ignoring naysayers who don\u2019t want a transgender girl on a girls’ sports team, the Bridgeport High School sophomore just wants to enjoy time with her friends.<\/p>\n Anything else that might deflect her attention gets set aside. And, for now, that means not worrying about what the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a> will decide by early summer in a case where she’s the centerpiece over whether trans girls can compete.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not here to get an advantage,\u201d Pepper-Jackson said. \u201cI\u2019ve been like pushed down and have people that just look at me nasty my whole life. And I\u2019ve learned that that\u2019s just something I\u2019m going to have to deal with.”<\/p>\n In 2021, Pepper-Jackson took a stand by challenging a newly signed law<\/a> in West Virginia banning trans athletes from competing in female sports in middle and high schools and colleges. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 allowed Pepper-Jackson to continue<\/a> competing in middle school while the lawsuit continued.<\/p>\n Now she’s in high school, and the lawsuit is nearing the finish line. In January, the Supreme Court\u2019s conservative majority, which has repeatedly ruled<\/a> against transgender Americans in the past year, signaled it would rule the state bans don\u2019t violate either the Constitution or the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.<\/p>\n The justices heard arguments in a second case from Idaho, where Lindsay Hecox<\/a> sued over the state\u2019s first-in-the-nation ban for the chance to try out for the women\u2019s track and cross-country teams at Boise State University. She didn\u2019t make either squad.<\/p>\n Pepper-Jackson is the only trans person who has sought to compete in girls sports in West Virginia. If the court rules that state bans are legal, her current track season will be her farewell tour. It\u2019s not something she thinks about.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t make their decisions for them, so I just have to wait and see what they\u2019ll say,\u201d she said. \u201cI try not to look at it if this could be my last season.”<\/p>\n West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey said he’s confident the state will prevail. <\/p>\n “West Virginia\u2019s law does not exclude anyone; it simply says biological boys will compete against boys, and biological girls will compete against girls,” McCuskey said in a statement. “On the athletic field, biological sex matters \u2014 gender identity does not.” <\/p>\n Pepper-Jackson has publicly identified as a girl<\/a> since she was 8 years old and long before that at home.<\/p>\n Her mother, Heather Jackson, said Becky wasn\u2019t like her two older brothers.<\/p>\n \u201cI noticed immediately that Becky was different,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cWhen she was old enough to say what she wanted, toys or clothing or anything, she was very profound in her opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n It started with her asking for \u2014 and getting \u2014 a makeup kit for Christmas at age 3. She also started wearing her mom\u2019s shirts as dresses.<\/p>\n \u201cShe would be very opinionated on what she wanted to wear,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cI just followed her lead from the very beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n At the onset of puberty, Pepper-Jackson started taking puberty-blocking medication. <\/p>\n \u201cBecky did not undergo male puberty,\u201d said Aubrey Sparks, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union\u2019s West Virginia chapter. \u201cAnd so when you hear, ‘Well, this is unfair. Trans kids have an advantage.\u2019 That\u2019s just not the case here.\u201d <\/p>\n In sixth grade, Pepper-Jackson heeded her girls’ track coach\u2019s advice to switch from highly competitive distance running to field events. As a high school freshman last year, she took third place in the discus and eighth in the shot put at the state meet. <\/p>\n Detractors have followed her closely, including Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey.<\/p>\n In 2024, five athletes from a rival school refused to compete alongside Pepper-Jackson. The five received a standing ovation at a news conference a week later in Charleston, where Morrisey, then as the state’s attorney general, announced the state would challenge<\/a> a federal appeals court ruling favoring Pepper-Jackson.<\/p>\n At the 2025 state meet, a female sprinter stood victorious on the podium wearing a T-shirt that read, \u201cMen don\u2019t belong in women\u2019s sports.”<\/p>\n It\u2019s been quieter so far this season. Pepper-Jackson has won both the discus and shot put in her first two meets and has cheered on teammates competing in other events. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of core lessons you learn from being in sports that you don\u2019t get anywhere else, like teamwork, sportsmanship,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Off the field, she plans to pursue music in college and a career as a band director. <\/p>\n Pepper-Jackson has paid attention to other trans girls who have excelled nationally in high school track.<\/p>\n AB Hernandez<\/a> won gold in the girls high jump and triple jump at last year\u2019s California state high school meet<\/a>. Hernandez is now a senior at Jurupa Valley High School. Ver\u00f3nica Garcia won back-to-back 400-meter titles in Washington state in 2024 and 2025, and Ada Gallagher won the 200 meters at the Oregon state meet in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s very inspiring,\u201d Pepper-Jackson said.<\/p>\n