WV Attorney General leads coalition to defend legislator who was silenced for speaking out against boys in girls' sports
CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey is leading a coalition of 15 attorneys general in an amicus brief standing up for free speech, the legislative process and, at the heart of it, girls who have been forced to compete against biological males in sports.
The brief is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on a case involving a legislator from Maine who was stripped of her voting and speaking rights in the state legislature, all because she spoke out against a biological male competing against girls in track. When Representative Laurel Libby refused to apologize for exercising her right to free speech, she was censured by the Speaker of the House – silencing her and the members in her district, who no longer have a voice or a vote in the Maine House of Representatives.
“This is an issue of particular importance to us here in West Virginia as we continue to stand up for women and girls' sports," Attorney General McCuskey said. “We currently have a case (BPJ) before the Supreme Court in which we have been fighting on behalf of female athletes in Bridgeport who have been forced to compete against a biological male. It is wrong and should not be allowed to happen but, unfortunately, it is happening across the country. And while most agree it is unfair and unsafe, there are now attacks on people who speak out against it. We cannot allow this to happen. Our coalition stands with Representative Libby; an attack against free speech is an attack against us all."
The coalition's brief specifically addresses legislative immunity, which has been invoked in the Libby case to shield the members who censured her. While legislative immunity is important, the brief argues, “It would be a perverse result indeed if a doctrine meant to protect '[f]reedom of speech and action in the legislature' was instead used to erase Representative Libby's ability to speak and act in the Legislature."
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Virginia have joined the West Virginia led brief.
Read the brief here.
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Update on B.P.J v. West Virginia State Board of Education
West Virginia's petition for certiorari is still pending with the U.S. Supreme Court. We're hopeful that the Court will act on that petition soon, perhaps after issuing its related opinion in United States v. Skremetti, which we expect to happen sometime this month. We are asking the Court to overturn the Fourth Circuit's mistaken decision, lift the injunction requiring that a biological boy be allowed to compete as a girl, and return girls' sports to the girls.
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