Jim Justice defends his transgender sports ban as Supreme Court hearing looms

HEDGESVILLE, West Virginia – SPECIAL: As governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice signed the Save Women’s Sports Act in 2021, banning transgender girls from competing in women’s sports. Now that he represents the state in the U.S. Senate, his legislation faces Supreme Court review next week with national ramifications.

Justice spoke with Fox News Digital on Saturday — after coaching the Greenbrier East High School girls basketball team to a win over Hedgesville — about the high stakes of the case and why banning states from keeping biological males out of female school sports would create an unfair disadvantage for young women.

A transgender girl from the Bridgeport area, identified in court documents as “BPJ,” filed a lawsuit to overturn BPJ and allow girls to play on sports teams, and the case reached the nation’s highest court.

A court upheld the law in 2023, but it was overturned on appeal in April 2024, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case in July, setting arguments for Tuesday.

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“Why don’t we stand behind all the young girls and women trying to participate in athletics?” Justice told Fox News Digital courtside at the Spartans’ game near Berkeley Springs.

“It’s incredible what they’ve done and I’m so proud of them – And definitely walking away, turning around and saying, ‘Oh, okay, that’s okay with us.’ [let] men join against their daughters” — I am definitely on the side of our women.”

Reflecting on his experience coaching girls at Greenbrier East in Lewisburg, Justice said he sees every day how hard they work and “they absolutely do not deserve to be at a disadvantage.”

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“This case is extremely important,” he said alongside his famous canine companion, Babydog. “At the end of the day, if we can’t stand up for our girls, if we can’t stand up for our women, I don’t know what’s wrong with us in the world.”

Justice was one of several legislators who filed an amicus brief when West Virginia and Attorney General J.B. McCuskey and Justice’s successor, Gov. Patrick Morrisey, brought the case to the bench.

The brief signaled Justice’s assertion that Congress should be the one to propose expanding Title IX (the 1972 civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sex) to include gender identity beyond biological sex.

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“I think it should definitely be Congress that would expand this, but beyond that I don’t know why we would even consider it,” Justice said.

“You should see how hard our girls work to perfect what they do and dream of going to college and playing ball. My daughter played basketball in college. I was there too,” Justice said.

“We saw a situation where a man basically competed against our girls or women and absolutely came out on top. And then we see the tragedy of how hard it is for our girls and women,” she said.

Always quick to tout the virtues of his home country, Justice also spoke about how important it was to see the Mountaineers lead the way on the transgender sports issue.

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“West Virginia is very good in a lot of ways,” the Greenbrier celebrity owner said, adding that the arguments McCuskey’s team was preparing to make Tuesday fit right in with the state’s modus operandi:

“I’ve said this over and over again, we’re committed to logic, common sense, kindness, good neighbors, appreciative and loving people. It’s absolutely incredible how we’ve stepped up during Covid, all the different things we’ve done, leading the nation time and time again.”

“Now the nation is waking up, the world is waking up to how great West Virginia really is. But what’s real is our people. That’s all,” he said.

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On the other side of the case, BPJ wants to play with girls on high school sports teams.

Last year, BPJ qualified for the West Virginia girls high school state track and field meet, placing third in the discus throw and eighth in the shot put in the Class AAA division.

She has identified as female since third grade and has been using puberty blockers. The plaintiffs filed complaints of harassment and intimidation over their cases.

The Supreme Court will formally decide both the West Virginia law and the Idaho policy. The Department of Justice supports the legislation and will be given time during oral arguments.

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Donald Trump, left; Jim Justice, right (Saul Loeb/Getty)

The Save Women’s Sports Act was spearheaded by GOP Dels in the West Virginia legislature. Evan Worrell of Barboursville, Wayne Clark of Charles Town and Jonathan Pinson of Ravenswood.

Fox News Digital’s Olivia Palombo and Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.