Several girls staged a "step out" protest and refused to compete Thursday in Bridgeport, West Virginia, at a middle school girl's track and field event due to the participation of a transgender athlete.
The protest at Bridgeport Middle School came just days after a federal appeals court ruled in favor of a transgender teenager who sued West Virginia over the state's law barring biological boys from competing in girls' sports. A video posted on X shows five girls watching the athlete in question participating in the shot put competition.
Several members of the Lincoln Middle School track and field team "stepped in" when their name was called and then "stepped out" without throwing the shot to protest the event.
Women's sports advocate Riley Gaines posted her support of the girls saying, "It's a sad day when 13-14yr old girls have to be the adults in the room, but I couldn't be more inspired by and proud of these girls. Enough is enough. Tide is turning."
On Tuesday, the Fourth Circuit Court ruled 2-1 in favor of Becky Pepper-Jackson, 13, who was represented by Joshua Block, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.
"This is a tremendous victory for our client, transgender West Virginians, and the freedom of all youth to play as who they are," Block said in a statement. "It also continues a string of federal courts ruling against bans on the participation of transgender athletes and in favor of their equal participation as the gender they know themselves to be. This case is fundamentally about the equality of transgender youth in our schools and our communities and we're thankful the Fourth Circuit agreed."
According to one of the girls who protested, the transgender athlete won the shot put event during the Championships, Outkick reported.