B. P. J. Et Al v. West Virginia State Board of Education Et Al
B. P. J. Et Al v. West Virginia State Board of Education Et Al
B. P. J. Et Al v. West Virginia State Board of Education Et Al
CHARLESTON DIVISION
B. P. J., et al.,
Plaintiffs,
Defendants.
A fear of the unknown and discomfort with the unfamiliar have motivated
many of the most malignant harms committed by our country’s governments on their
own citizens. Out of fear of those less like them, the powerful have made laws that
restricted who could attend what schools, who could work certain jobs, who could
marry whom, and even how people can practice their religions. Recognizing that
democracy, the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. It ensures that no state
may “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Accordingly, the courts are most juberous of any law—state or federal—that treats
passed state law. Those standing in opposition to this law assert that it was enacted
to incite fear and exclude certain persons rather than to address a legitimate
government interest. At this point, I have been provided with scant evidence that this
law addresses any problem at all, let alone an important problem. When the
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applies to her and that it violates Title IX, Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary
Injunction is GRANTED.
school. Like many of her peers, B.P.J. intends to participate in school athletics. She
hopes to join both the girls’ cross country and track teams. However, B.P.J. was
informed by her school that because of a new statute, she will no longer be permitted
cisgender,3 etc., I refer to the meticulously researched and written opinion in Grimm
v. Gloucester County School Board, 972 F.3d 586, 594–597 (4th Cir. 2020). I adopt
inherently private details—to educate both the court and public. B.P.J. is a
transgender girl who, while assigned the sex of male at birth, knew from a young age
that she is a girl. [ECF No. 64, ¶ 31]. By the third grade, B.P.J. was living as a girl at
1 One’s “deeply felt, inherent sense” of one’s gender. Grimm, 927 F.3d at 594.
2 “[A] condition that is characterized by debilitating distress and anxiety resulting from the
incongruence between an individual's gender identity and birth-assigned sex.” Grimm, 927 F.3d at
594–95.
3 A person whose gender identity aligns with her sex-assigned-at-birth. Grimm, 927 F.3d at 594.
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home but dressing as a boy at school. Id. B.P.J. then asked to change her name to a
name commonly associated with girls and began living as a girl in both public and
private. Id. B.P.J. also joined her elementary school’s all-girl cheerleading team. Id.
at ¶ 36. B.P.J. practiced and competed with this team without incident.
B.P.J. was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2019. Id. at ¶ 33. She began
puberty-delaying treatment on June 15, 2020, to treat that condition.4 Plaintiff avers
that this treatment, which prevents endogenous puberty and therefore any
B.P.J., through her mother, filed this lawsuit against the West Virginia State
Board of Education, the Harrison County Board of Education, the West Virginia
Clayton Burch, and Harrison County Superintendent Dora Stutler. The State of West
Virginia moved to intervene, and that motion was granted. Plaintiff then amended
her complaint, [ECF No. 64], naming both the State and Attorney General Patrick
Morrisey as defendants.
In her complaint, B.P.J. alleges that Defendants Burch, Stutler, the WVSSAC,
and Attorney General Morrisey deprived her of the equal protection guaranteed to
her by the Fourteenth Amendment and that the State, the State Board of Education,
4 “The medical treatment for gender dysphoria is to eliminate [] clinically significant distress by
helping a transgender person live in alignment with their gender identity.” [ECF No. 2-1, Adkins Decl.,
at 5]. For some transgender youth, the distress from gender dysphoria is addressed through puberty
blocking treatment. Id. at 6. “Puberty blocking treatment allows transgender youth to avoid going
through their endogenous puberty thereby avoiding the heightened gender dysphoria and permanent
physical changes that puberty would cause.” Id. The State cites to experts who question when social
transition and puberty blocking treatment are appropriate for young people. See, [ECF No. 49, Ex. E].
But what is or should be the default treatment for transgender youth is not the question before the
court.
5 The NCAA and the International Olympic Committee, which both permit transgender women to
compete as women in athletic events, require that the athletes suppress their testosterone for a certain
period of time or that it be suppressed below a particular threshold.
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the Harrison County Board of Education, and the WVSSAC have violated Title IX.
[ECF No. 64, at 20–23]. B.P.J. seeks a declaratory judgment that Section 18-2-25d of
the West Virginia Code violates Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause; an
injunction preventing Defendants from enforcing the law against her; a waiver of the
requirement of a surety bond for preliminary injunctive relief; nominal damages; and
The motion for a preliminary injunction that accompanies her complaint seeks
relief only insofar as this law applies to her. That is, granting this motion will only
prevent the State and other Defendants from enforcing Section 18-2-25d against
B.P.J. Whether the law is facially unconstitutional is an issue raised in the Complaint
On March 18, 2021, ten delegates in the West Virginia House of Delegates
introduced House Bill 3293, strategically referred to as the “Save Women’s Sports
Bill.” West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed the bill into law on April 28, 2021,
and it was codified as West Virginia Code, Section 18-2-25d, entitled “Clarifying
participation for sports events to be based on biological sex of the athlete at birth.”
The statute begins by noting that “[t]here are inherent differences between
biological males and biological females, and that these differences are cause for
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§ 18-2-25d(b)(1)–(3).
“shall be expressly designated as one of the following based on biological sex: (A)
Males, men, or boys; (B) Females, women, or girls; or (C) Coed or mixed.” § 18-2-
25d(c)(1). Once those teams are properly designated, the statute goes on to address
who may participate on which teams. “Athletic teams or sports designated for
females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex where selection
for such teams is based upon competitive skill or the activity involved is a contact
sport.” § 18-2-25d(c)(1).
According to the statute’s text, its definition of “biological sex” has nothing to
do with gender identity. “Gender identity is separate and distinct from biological sex
The State asserts that the objective of the statute is to provide equal athletic
opportunities for female athletes and to protect the physical safety of female athletes
when competing. [ECF No. 49, at 7]. Plaintiff argues that the State’s assertion is a
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façade concealing the true objective: to exclude transgender girls and women from
participating in sports.
The United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for
the Fourth Circuit have provided district courts with a precise analytical framework
for determining whether to grant preliminary injunctive relief. First, B.P.J. must
make a clear showing that she will likely succeed on the merits. Second, she must
make a clear showing that she is likely to be irreparably harmed absent preliminary
relief. Third, she must show that the balance of equities tips in her favor. Finally,
B.P.J. must show that an injunction is in the public interest. All four requirements
must be satisfied. Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 555 U.S. 7
(2008); The Real Truth About Obama, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission, 575 F.3d
342, 346–47 (4th Cir. 2009), vacated on other grounds, 130 S. Ct. 2371 (2010).
B.P.J. has demonstrated a clear likelihood of success on the merits of either her Equal
The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that “[n]o
State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. It is “essentially a direction that all persons
similarly situated should be treated alike.” City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Ctr.,
scrutiny I must apply to Section 18-2-25d. The answer to this question turns on what
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classifications are created by the law. Plaintiff argues that this law discriminates
against transgender girls and only transgender girls because cisgender boys,
cisgender girls, and transgender boys are all unaffected by the law’s central tenet:
non-cisgender girls may not participate on a girls’ sports team. [ECF No. 19, at 19].
The State responded that this law does not treat transgender girls differently than
other groups because this law is premised on “biological sex,” and it treats all
teams.
Essentially, the State contends that the Equal Protection Clause is not being
violated because B.P.J. is being treated the same under this law as those she is
similarly situated with: “biological males” as defined by West Virginia Code § 18-2-
25d(b)(3). But this is misleading. Plaintiff is not most similarly situated with
cisgender boys; she is similarly situated to other girls. Accord Grimm, 972 F.3d at 610
similarly situated to other boys”). Plaintiff has lived as a girl for years. She has
competed on the all-girls cheerleading team at her school. She changed her name to
a name more commonly associated with girls. And of the girls at her middle school,
B.P.J. is the only girl who will be prevented from participating in school-sponsored
discriminates on the basis of transgender status. Hecox v. Little, 479 F. Supp. 3d 930,
975 (D. Idaho 2020) (“while the physiological differences the Defendants suggest
may justify the Act, they do not overcome the inescapable conclusion that the Act
discriminates on the basis of transgender status”). The question then is what level of
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The Fourth Circuit answered that question in Grimm. Stare decisis requires
according to transgender status. Grimm arrived at this conclusion from two different
inherently based in sex, and therefore the level of scrutiny applicable to sex
alternative, Grimm finds that transgender people are a quasi-suspect class and
therefore entitled to intermediate scrutiny of laws that treat them differently than
policy. Mississippi Univ. For Women v. Hogan, 458 U.S. 718, 724 (1982). At a
minimum, the government must show that “the classification serves important
against a quasi-suspect class “must be genuine, not hypothesized or invented post hoc
in response to litigation. And it must not rely on overbroad generalizations about the
Virginia, 518 U.S. 515, 533 (1996) (citing Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636,
objective.” United States v. Chapman, 666 F.3d 220, 226 (4th Cir. 2012) (citing United
States v. Chester, 628 F.3d 673, 683 (4th Cir. 2010)). The party defending the statute
must “present[] sufficient probative evidence in support of its stated rationale for
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enacting a gender preference, i.e., . . . the evidence [must be] sufficient to show that
generalizations.” H.B. Rowe Co. v. Tippett, 615 F.3d 233, 242 (4th Cir. 2010) (quoting
Eng’g Contractors Ass’n of S. Fla. v. Metropolitan Dade Cnty., 122 F.3d 895, 910 (11th
Cir. 1997)); Concrete Works of Colorado, Inc. v. City and Cnty. of Denver, 321 F.3d
950, 959 (10th Cir. 2003) (“[T]he gender-based measures . . . [must be] based on
‘reasoned analysis rather than [on] the mechanical application of traditional, often
inaccurate, assumptions.’” (quoting Mississippi Univ. for Women, 458 U.S. at 726)).
Educational Media Co. at Va. Tech, Inc. v. Insley, 731 F.3d 291, 298 n.5 (4th Cir.
2013) (quoting Richmond Med. Ctr. for Women v. Herring, 570 F.3d 165, 172 (4th Cir.
2009) (en banc)). “It is axiomatic that a ‘statute may be invalid as applied to one state
Northern New England, 546 U.S. 320, 328 (2006) (quoting Dahnke-Walker Milling
Here, the State’s proffered objective for the statute is to provide equal athletic
opportunities for female athletes and to protect female athletes while they participate
in athletics. [ECF No. 49, at 7]. B.P.J. argues that I should reject this offered objective
and instead find that the State’s true objective is to exclude transgender women and
girls from participating in state-sponsored athletics. While I need not do so, Virginia,
518 U.S. at 536, I will proceed as if the State’s offered objective is genuine. Regardless,
I find that this statute as applied to B.P.J. is not substantially related to providing
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preliminary injunction, B.P.J. has been living publicly as a girl for over a year at this
point. As part of treating her gender dysphoria, B.P.J. has been on puberty delaying
drugs for over a year. As a result, B.P.J. has not undergone and will not undergo
endogenous puberty, the process that most young boys undergo that creates the
B.P.J. has provided evidence that any physical advantages that men and boys
supported by both the NCAA policy 6 and the International Olympic Committee’s
policy7 that permit transgender women to compete on teams that align with their
performance between elite male athletes and elite female athletes.” [ECF No. 2-1,
The Defendant cites to an expert who asserts that for transgender athletes who
eradicate all competitive advantage. [ECF No. 49, Ex. G]. Like Judge Nye in the
District of Idaho, I find this opinion unpersuasive. See Hecox v. Little, 479 F. Supp.
3d 930, 980 (D. Idaho 2020). While that argument may be relevant to a facial
challenge of the statute, it is irrelevant to this as-applied analysis. B.P.J. has not
undergone endogenous puberty and will not so long as she remains on her prescribed
2015), https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/Commissions_PDFfiles/Medical_commission/2015-
11_ioc_consensus_meeting_on_sex_reassignment_and_hyperandrogenism-en.pdf.
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puberty blocking drugs. At this preliminary stage, B.P.J. has shown that she will not
have any inherent physical advantage over the girls she would compete against on
Further, permitting B.P.J. to participate on the girls’ teams would not take
away athletic opportunities from other girls. Transgender people make up a small
percentage of the population: 0.6% of the adult population generally, and 0.7% of
Who Identify as Transgender in the United States, The Williams Institute (Jan.
2017), http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Age-Trans-
I cannot find that permitting B.P.J. to participate on the girls’ cross country and track
teams would significantly, if at all, prevent other girl athletes from participating.
Finally, as applied to B.P.J., this law cannot possibly protect the physical
safety of other girl athletes. Cross country and track are not contact sports. The
physical ability of one athlete does not put another in danger in the way it might in
athletics. I find that B.P.J. is likely to succeed on the merits of her equal protection
claim.
ii. Title IX
Success on her Title IX claim would require B.P.J. to show “(1) that [she] was
excluded from participation in an education program ‘on the basis of sex’; (2) that the
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educational institution was receiving federal financial assistance at the time; and (3)
that improper discrimination caused [her] harm.” Grimm, 972 F.3d at 616 (citing
Preston v. Va. ex rel. New River Cmty. Coll., 31 F.3d 203, 206 (4th Cir. 1994)). There
is no question that Defendants named in this case received federal funding or that
the athletic programs run by Harrison County are part of an education program.
that she will likely succeed in proving that she is being excluded on the basis of sex
That B.P.J. is being excluded from school athletics on the basis of her sex is
clear. Like the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Grimm, I “have little difficulty holding”
that Section 18-2-25d discriminates against her “on the basis of sex.” Grimm, 972
F.3d at 616; accord Bostock v. Clayton County, 140 S. Ct. 1731, 1741 (2020) (holding
that discrimination against a person for being transgender is discrimination “on the
basis of sex” under Title VII). The law could not exclude B.P.J. from a girls’ athletics
team without referencing her “biological sex” as defined in the statute. Her sex
“remains a but-for cause” of her exclusion under the law. Grimm, 972 F.3d at 616.
Again, as in Grimm, I also have little difficulty finding that B.P.J. is harmed
by this law. All other students in West Virginia secondary schools—cisgender girls,
cisgender boys, transgender boys, and students falling outside of any of these
definitions trying to play on the boys’ teams—are permitted to play on sports teams
that best fit their gender identity. Under this law, B.P.J. would be the only girl at her
school, as far as I am aware, that is forbidden from playing on a girls’ team and must
join the boys’ team. Like the discriminatory policy in Grimm, this law both
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The final question is whether the law unlawfully discriminates against B.P.J.
In the Title IX context, discrimination “mean[s] treating that individual worse than
others who are similarly situated.” Grimm, 972 F.3d at 618 (quoting Bostock, 140 S.
Ct. at 1740). Here, as I have stated above, B.P.J. will be treated worse than girls with
whom she is similarly situated because she alone cannot join the team corresponding
to her gender identity. Considering all of this, I find that B.P.J. has demonstrated a
b. Irreparable Harm
has shown an irreparable harm. Henry v. Greenville Airport Comm’n, 284 F.2d 631,
633 (4th Cir. 1960). Forcing a girl to compete on the boys’ team when there is a girls’
team available would cause her unnecessary distress and stigma. In addition to the
harm to B.P.J., requiring her to compete on the boys’ team would also be confusing to
coaches and teammates. And not only would B.P.J. be excluded from girls’ sports
completely; she would be excluded because of who she is: a transgender girl. Having
found above that her exclusion is likely to be in violation of the Equal Protection
Clause and Title IX, I find that B.P.J. has demonstrated that she will be irreparably
Where, as here, the government is a party, the “balance of the equities” and
“public interest” prongs of the preliminary injunction test merge. Nken v. Holder, 556
U.S. 418, 435 (2009). In evaluating the balance of the equities, courts “must balance
the competing claims of injury and must consider the effect on each party of the
granting or withholding of the requested relief.” Winter, 555 U.S. at 24. It is always
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be treated any differently than her similarly situated peers because any harm to
B.P.J.’s personal rights is a harm to the share of American rights that we all hold
all of us in equal measure. It is that communal and shared ownership of freedom that
makes up the American ideal. The American ideal is one “that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.” Let America be America Again,
Langston Hughes.
Plaintiff also seeks to waive the bond required by Federal Rule of Civil
Procedure 65(c). “Where the district court determines that the risk of harm [to the
enjoined party] is remote, or that the circumstances otherwise warrant it, the court
may fix the amount of the bond accordingly. In some circumstances, a nominal bond
may suffice.” Hoecst Diafoil Co. v. Nan Ya Plastics Corp., 174 F.3d 411, 421 n.3 (4th
Cir. 1999). This bond can even be waived entirely when the defendant would not
suffer any harm from the injunction. Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum v.
Montgomery Cnty. Pub. Sch., No. Civ. A. AW-05-1994, 2005 WL 1075634, at *12 (D.
Md. May 5, 2005). I find that a bond is unnecessary and waive its requirement in this
case.
V. Conclusion
For the reasons stated above, Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction
[ECF No. 2] is GRANTED. While this case is pending, Defendants are enjoined from
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enforcing Section 18-2-25d against B.P.J. She will be permitted to sign up for and
The court DIRECTS the Clerk to send a copy of this Order to counsel of record
and any unrepresented party. The court further DIRECTS the Clerk to post a copy of
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