Trans athlete wins girls' shot put during West Virginia State Championships

Becky Pepper-Jackson, a trans-identified male from Bridgeport, West Virginia, has won the state title for girls' shot put in track and field events. The win for the state title comes after he won the county shot put competition by over three feet in April. Pepper-Jackson is also at the center of a Supreme Court case after West Virginia banned transgender athletes from girls' sports.

According to WDTV, Pepper-Jackson, 13, took home the state title for girls' shot put. During the county competition leading up to the state finals, a slew of girls refused to compete against him for the title. In the county competition in April, Pepper-Jackson threw the shot put 32 feet; the second-place competitor threw just 29 feet.

This time around, Pepper-Jackson threw the 4-kilogram shot put 38 feet. The second-place winner was Paislee Babiczuk, who threw the shot put just 36 feet. West Virginia Senator Chris Rose reacted to the championship competition on X, posting, "Paislee Babiczuk from John Marshall HS is the REAL West Virginia State Champion! You threw like a champion, Paislee. You earned that title fair and square—biological females should never have to lose to a boy competing in girls’ sports."

"This is exactly why we passed the Save Women’s Sports Act: to protect fairness, safety, and opportunities for our daughters. But a woke federal judge slapped a stay on our common-sense law, letting this happen at the state meet. Enough is enough. SCOTUS—overrule this activist ruling and uphold West Virginia’s law NOW. Our girls deserve a level playing field, not ideology over biology," he added.

Pepper-Jackson, who is in eighth grade, has identified as a girl since elementary school and is on cross-sex hormone therapy. After West Virginia passed a law banning boys from girls' sports, Pepper-Jackson and legal representatives sued, claiming that the law violated the Constitution and Title IX. An injunction was set by a lower court, allowing him to play in the female league. However, the case has gone to the Supreme Court, and it has yet to decide the outcome.