Capito Statement on SCOTUS Decision Upholding West Virginia Law Protecting Girls’ Sports

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) applauded the decision from the Supreme Court of the United States in State of West Virginia v. B.P.J., upholding West Virginia law requiring that each athlete’s participation in the athletic or sporting event be based on the athlete’s biological sex for an official or unofficial school-sanctioned athletic or sporting event. “I applaud the Supreme Court for upholding West Virginia’s common sense law to protect girls’ sports. As an athlete myself and the mother of a daughter who played a college sport, I believe strongly that allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports undermines the very fairness and protections Title IX was designed to provide. With the athletics landscape in our country rapidly evolving, we must recommit ourselves to protecting female athletes and ensure they can always compete on a level playing field. I’m proud to continue championing this issue for young girls across West Virginia, and I congratulate our leaders back home for the decisive victory today,” Senator Capito said . BACKGROUND: Senator Capito has been a staunch supporter of women sports. Some of her legislative efforts in the space include: Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act: Senator Capito has been a cosponsor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act since 2021. This bill ensures Title IX provisions treat gender as “recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth” and bans recipients of federal funding from operating, sponsoring, or facilitating athletic programs that permit a male to participate in a women’s sporting event. On March 3, 2025, the Senate voted on a motion to proceed to this bill, but it failed (51-45). Letter to the NCAA: On the same day as the vote on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, Senator Capito joined a letter led by U.S. Senator Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) to NCAA President Charlie Baker applauding the organization’s updated policy barring biological male students from participating in women’s sports following President Trump’s Executive Order titled, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The letter also urged the organization to take additional steps to protect the safety and privacy of female athletes. W.V. v. B.P.J. Amicus Brief: In September, Senator Capito joined an amicus brief with U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), and 11 other senators arguing that Congress’s clear and unambiguous intent in Title IX was that “sex” meant biology, not gender identity. # # #