The U.S. Supreme Court will hold oral arguments tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 13) in two landmark cases challenging state laws banning transgender youth from participating in interscholastic and intercollegiate sports.
Lambda Legal, alongside the American Civil Liberties Union, will argue West Virginia v. BPJ on behalf of 15-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, a West Virginia teen who is challenging that state’s discriminatory ban. West Virginia is one of the 27 states that have banned transgender youth from playing school sports.
According to a press release from Lambda Legal, while the organization “will show up in the court of law to argue for Becky’s legal rights” tomorrow, Lambda Legal has already launched a public education campaign “in support of trans youth nationwide to do the same in the court of public opinion.”
“The first piece of this multi-faceted effort is the Trans Youth in Sports Conversation Guide, designed to help people navigate conversations about this topic with empathy, clarity and confidence,” the press release notes. “It offers thoughtful questions, human stories and select data points that can help forge greater understanding when chatting on the sidelines of a game or catching up at a social gathering.”
Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings said, “Many Americans hear a regular drum beat of loud, hateful rhetoric — often from zealots who reject trans peoples’ right to exist — spouting falsehoods and sowing fear. As an antidote, Lambda Legal is offering new tools to help lower the temperature, foster curiosity and understanding, and promote constructive neighbor-to-neighbor conversations.”
Lambda Legal is partnering with advocacy communications firm RALLY on the campaign, which will continue through to SCOTUS’ decision later this year. The foundation for the campaign is messaging backed by research RALLY conducted in late October of 2025, the press release explains. The firm surveyed 3,196 US adults ages 18-54 who identify as Democrats or Independents and found that:
• Positive, hopeful, values-based messaging frames about trans youth participation in school sports far out-performed those that focused on politicians.
• The most resonant message underscored that the life lessons kids learn from sports — leadership, perseverance, self-discipline, teamwork and more — don’t stay on the field. These lessons trickle into our classrooms, homes, and communities. When every child can participate in school sports, including transgender kids, we all benefit.
• Some of the best performing messages were able to shift support for trans youth inclusion by double digits, with several audience segments moving to majority support.”
Additional elements of the campaign in partnership with RALLY will be announced and rolled out in the weeks and months ahead. A decision on West Virginia v. BPJ is expected in the spring or early summer this year.
— Tammye Nash