West Virginia Attorney General Morrisey describes ban on transgender sports as ‘alarming’ in Newsmax interview

The Fourth Circuit Court’s ruling to block a West Virginia law banning transgender student-athletes from playing on teams consistent with their gender identity is “deeply disturbing,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said on Newsmax Thursday.

“This is a deeply disturbing ruling because I think that the Fourth Circuit just got it completely wrong,” the Republican official, who is running for governor, told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “We know that in America, there has been separation on the basis of sports for a very long time. People know about Title IX and the effort to try to afford equal opportunities to women.”

The case was based on a 2021 law that bars transgender student-athletes from participating on teams consistent with their gender identity. The lawsuit was filed in May 2021 by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Lambda Legal on behalf of a 12-year-old transgender girl who would not be allowed to participate in her middle school’s track and field team, according to the ACLU.

Morrisey noted that the West Virginia law said the separation in sports would continue but would be based on the athlete’s birth sex, not their sexual identity.

“What this court did is blur the distinctions and try to come up with a new provision that’s not included in any of the laws,” Morrisey said. “This law that West Virginia passed is absolutely consistent with Title IX. It helps to protect their young woman by giving them opportunities. It’s fair and it’s just.”

Morrisey said he believes the state will prevail as the appeals continue.

“We had prevailed at the district court level after we submitted 3,000 pages of evidence,” said Morrisey. “People realized that at the early stages, regardless of what happens with puberty blockers, men on average are stronger and faster and they can compete more effectively.”

He added that the state believes the Supreme Court will “rule fairly” on the West Virginia law.

“I think when you have a male participating in a sport with females, there’s a massive amount of displacement,” said Morrisey. “It’s unfair and it’s causing females to lose their opportunity to shine. I think when the Supreme Court ultimately hears it, we’re definitely going to prevail.”

Title IX was passed, he added, because Congress thought there should be equal opportunities for women in sports.

“When you start to have these males who are not competing at all in their own categories try to cross over, that’s a very significant problem, and I think the implications of this case go far beyond sports that go to the locker rooms,” said Morrisey.

He added that the NCAA should also “do the right thing” and determine sports participation based on birth sex.

“We need to make sure that all of the sports leagues, the NCAA, and others, all the divisions recognize the basic differences,” he said. “America cares about fairness in sports and fairness in life, and this is absolutely not fair and it needs to come to an end.”

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