“Hoboken is famous for being the birthplace of baseball, but it should also be known as the birthplace of Maria Pepe.”
Mayor Dawn Zimmer said at the beginning of the Hoboken Little League memorial ceremony.
The local newspapers' headlines read "Maria Pepe Kicked Off Team". This caught the attention of the National Organization for Women (NOW), who, at the time, was leading a national campaign to pass what would become Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. This law prohibits gender discrimination in "any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" in elementary or secondary schools or higher education, but this law didn’t say anything specific about athletics or sports. “The former U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) 45 did not promulgate regulations confirming that Title IX's broad mandate reached athletic programs at all until 1975.” (Douglas E. Abrams). The NOW, on Pepe’s behalf, filed a claim before the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. NOW appealed to the state's Law Against Discrimination, which prohibited gender discrimination in public accommodations.
After close to a year of debate, the court decided to side with NOW. When the court case started, Pepe was twelve years old, now, at 13 she was now too old to play Little League.
Pepe said, “The NOW had called to tell my father. He said, ‘Honey, I want you to know that they ruled in your favor.’ And I looked at my father and I said, ‘You know, Dad, that’s great, but now I’m too old to play.’ And he kinda knew that, and he looked at me and he said, ‘But honey, you gotta realize all the girls who will come after you.’ ”(AARP.org)
Although Pepe could not play anymore, over 30,000 girls nationwide played on Little League teams within the next year.
"My dad was a longshoreman," Maria recalls, "He said, ‘This is what she wants to do,' and he stood by me." "My mom told people, ‘You mind your own business and I'll raise my child any way I want to.'"
-Maria Pepe, momsteam.com
“Maria Pepe: A Bittersweet Victory.”
Pepe had received a generous amount of hate from people that disagreed with girls playing Little League and the court case brought about controversy over whether girls should be allowed to play sports with boys. She also won a considerable amount of support and gratitude. For example, the New York Yankees honored the Pepe family at Yankee Stadium and made Maria a "Yankee For a Day." She appeared on two popular television programs that reached national audiences, "Good Morning America" and the "To Tell the Truth" panel show.