BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — As evening approaches, Bridgeport High School sophomore Becky Pepper-Jackson steps into the throwing circle, blocks out surrounding noise, and launches her discus into the fading daylight.
Her approach remains straightforward. Whether she’s working to surpass her third-place showing from West Virginia’s state track championship last year or dismissing critics who oppose transgender girls participating in female athletics, the student-athlete simply wants to spend time with her teammates.
She pushes aside everything else that could distract her. Right now, that includes avoiding thoughts about the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision expected this summer in a landmark case where she plays a central role regarding transgender girls’ participation in sports.
“I’m not here to get an advantage,” Pepper-Jackson 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.”
Pepper-Jackson made headlines in 2021 when she legally contested West Virginia’s recently enacted legislation prohibiting transgender students from participating in female athletics across middle schools, high schools, and universities. The nation’s highest court permitted her continued participation in middle school competition in 2023 as legal proceedings moved forward.
She has since advanced to high school, and her case approaches its conclusion. During January proceedings, the Supreme Court’s conservative members, who have consistently decided against transgender rights in recent rulings, indicated they would likely determine that state prohibitions don’t breach constitutional protections or Title IX, the federal statute preventing sex-based educational discrimination.
The court also considered arguments in a related Idaho case, where Lindsay Hecox challenged her state’s pioneering ban while seeking opportunities to try out for Boise State University’s women’s track and cross-country programs. She ultimately didn’t qualify for either team.
Throughout West Virginia, Pepper-Jackson remains the sole transgender individual who has requested to participate in girls’ athletics. Should the court validate state prohibitions, her ongoing track season would mark her final competition. She avoids dwelling on this possibility.
“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.”
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey expressed confidence in his state’s position.
“West Virginia’s 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 — gender identity does not.”
Pepper-Jackson began living openly as a girl at age 8, though she expressed this identity much earlier within her family.
Her mother, Heather Jackson, recognized that Becky differed from her two older brothers.
“I noticed immediately that Becky was different,” Jackson said. “When she was old enough to say what she wanted, toys or clothing or anything, she was very profound in her opinion.”
Early signs included requesting and receiving a makeup set for Christmas at age 3. She also began using her mother’s shirts as makeshift dresses.
“She would be very opinionated on what she wanted to wear,” Jackson said. “I just followed her lead from the very beginning.”
When puberty began, Pepper-Jackson began taking hormone-blocking treatments.
“Becky did not undergo male puberty,” said Aubrey Sparks, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union’s West Virginia chapter. “And so when you hear, ‘Well, this is unfair. Trans kids have an advantage.’ That’s just not the case here.”
During sixth grade, Pepper-Jackson followed her girls’ track coach’s recommendation to transition from competitive distance events to field competitions. Last year as a freshman, she earned third place in discus and eighth in shot put at the state championship.
Opposition has consistently shadowed her career, including from Republican Governor Patrick Morrisey.
During 2024, five competitors from an opposing school declined to participate against Pepper-Jackson. These athletes later received enthusiastic applause at a Charleston press conference, where Morrisey, serving as attorney general at the time, declared the state’s intention to contest a federal appeals court decision supporting Pepper-Jackson.
At the 2025 state championship, a female sprinter celebrated her victory on the podium while wearing a shirt declaring, “Men don’t belong in women’s sports.”
This season has proceeded more peacefully. Pepper-Jackson has claimed first place in both discus and shot put during her initial two competitions and has supported teammates in their various events.
“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.
Beyond athletics, she intends to study music in college and eventually become a band director.
Pepper-Jackson has followed the achievements of other transgender girls who have succeeded in high school track nationwide.
AB Hernandez captured gold medals in girls’ high jump and triple jump at California’s state high school championship last year. Hernandez currently attends Jurupa Valley High School as a senior. Verónica Garcia claimed consecutive 400-meter championships in Washington state during 2024 and 2025, while Ada Gallagher won the 200-meter race at Oregon’s state meet in 2024.
“I think it’s very inspiring,” Pepper-Jackson said.
Hernandez’s achievements reignited demands from certain parent organizations and conservatives, including President Donald Trump, for California to prohibit transgender girls from competing against other female athletes. California maintains legislation allowing students to join sports teams matching their gender identity, regardless of birth-assigned sex.
When Hernandez earned qualification in three events last year, the resulting controversy prompted the meet’s organizing body to permit an additional girl to compete and earn medals in Hernandez’s events. This accommodation may represent the nation’s first such rule modification.
Pepper-Jackson’s strongest advocate remains her mother. Following a recent practice session, the two danced together, and Heather Jackson moved across the field to collect discuses after her daughter’s throws.
Jackson praised how her daughter has managed the attention and examination surrounding her case “with astounding grace and intelligence and education, which is more than I would have been able to do at that age.”
Pepper-Jackson mentioned that others have expressed admiration for her, though she struggles to understand why because “I don’t see the gravity of this court case. I think it’s just common knowledge: Transgender girls should be able to be on the girls’ sports team. I think that’s simple.”
