Five West Virginia middle-schoolers who protested the participation of a transgender track and field athlete in a competition were barred from participating in future meets. This prompted the state’s attorney general to request that the US Supreme Court weigh in again on the issue of transgender student athletes being banned.

West Virginia Attorney-General Patrick Morrisey has filed a suit against the Harrison County Board of Education in the name of the dissident students who were denied entry to upcoming events after their protests during the shot put competition on April 18, West Virginia Watch reported.

Five girls from Lincoln Middle School refused to throw the ball in the competition, which was won Becky Pepper Jackson, a 13 year old girl who is on estrogen hormone therapy and puberty blocking medication.

A recent federal appeals ruling ruled that while West Virginia law prohibits transgender women from participating in girls’ sports, the law could not be lawfully applied to an eighth-grader.

Toby Heytens, a judge in the United States, wrote that giving her a choice between not taking part in sports or participating on only boys’ teams was “not genuinely allowing her to make a decision.”

Morrisey, despite the ruling has protested both the ruling as well as the treatment of student-athletes that had refused to compete against Becky.

“Their actions during the earlier track meet weren’t disruptive or aggrandizing.” The student-athletes were demonstrating their apparent dissatisfaction with the competition consequences of a federal appeals court’s ruling in a quiet manner. Morrisey is a Republican running for governor and filed an amicus brief on April 26.

Morrisey, who was joined by a Becky’s classmate on Wednesday, said that he intends to ask the US Supreme Court for a second hearing of the case regarding the state’s restriction on transgender students-athletes.

Former collegiate swimmer-turned-activist Riley Gaines, who has been an outspoken critic of trans athletes participating in girls’ sporting events, has weighed in on the issue, writing, “These girls stood up for what they believed and their coach barred them from competing. “Insane”, a comment on X Monday.

Morrisey tweeted a quote from Gaines, stating that he would do “everything I can to defend these young brave girls.”

This is wrong. We must fight for what is right and reject these radical transpolicies. “Thanks to @Riley_Gaines_ on her leadership in this critical issue.”