In April, Becky Pepper-Jackson, a transgender high school track and field athlete, was focused on her season at Bridgeport High School in West Virginia despite knowing the Supreme Court could end her ability to compete on a girls’ team. The court is expected to rule by early summer on whether states can ban transgender girls from competing in female sports—a case in which Pepper-Jackson, a sophomore, is the centerpiece.

The pending decision represents the first time the Supreme Court has directly addressed whether state athletic bans on transgender athletes violate the Constitution or Title IX, the federal education law. The outcome could affect similar bans in other states and transgender athletes competing in high school and college sports.

In April, Becky Pepper-Jackson took her position in the throwing circle, focused on her discus despite the weight of an uncertain future. The Bridgeport High School sophomore stands at the center of a Supreme Court case that will determine whether she and other transgender girls can compete on female teams.

Pepper-Jackson has won both the discus and shot put in her first two meets this season, continuing the performance trajectory that began last year when she placed third in discus and eighth in shot put at the West Virginia state meet.

“I’m not here to get an advantage,” she said. “I’ve been like pushed down and have people that just look at me nasty my whole life. And I’ve learned that that’s just something I’m going to have to deal with.”

The Case

In 2021, at age 11, Pepper-Jackson challenged West Virginia’s law banning transgender athletes from competing in female sports. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed her to continue competing in middle school in 2023 while the lawsuit proceeded.

Now the case has reached its turning point. In January 2026, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority signaled it would rule that state bans do not violate the Constitution or Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education.

The court is expected to issue its decision by early summer.

The Arguments

West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey has argued the law treats all athletes fairly. “West Virginia’s law does not exclude anyone; it simply says biological boys will compete against boys, and biological girls will compete against girls,” he said. “On the athletic field, biological sex matters — gender identity does not.”

Pepper-Jackson identified as a girl from age 8, according to her mother, Heather Jackson. When Pepper-Jackson reached puberty, she began taking puberty-blocking medication and did not undergo male puberty, according to Aubrey Sparks, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s West Virginia chapter.

“Becky did not undergo male puberty,” Sparks said. “And so when you hear, ‘Well, this is unfair. Trans kids have an advantage.’ That’s just not the case here.”

National Pattern

Pepper-Jackson’s path is not unique. Other transgender high school athletes have competed successfully in recent years: AB Hernandez won gold in girls’ high jump and triple jump at the California state high school meet; Verónica Garcia won back-to-back 400-meter titles in Washington state in 2024 and 2025; Ada Gallagher won the 200 meters at the Oregon state meet in 2024.

“I think it’s very inspiring,” Pepper-Jackson said of their achievements.

Living with Uncertainty

Pepper-Jackson said she tries not to dwell on the possibility that this season could be her last. “I can’t make their decisions for them, so I just have to wait and see what they’ll say,” she said. “I try not to look at it if this could be my last season.”

Instead, she focuses on what is in her control: her performance and her place on a team. “There’s a lot of core lessons you learn from being in sports that you don’t get anywhere else, like teamwork, sportsmanship,” she said.

Off the field, Pepper-Jackson plans to pursue music in college and a career as a band director.