News :: New England
Judge allows trans New Hampshire girl to play soccer as lawsuit challenges ban
Trans teens filed lawsuit challenging NH law banning them from girls' sports
On Monday, a federal judge temporarily allowed a transgender girl to play soccer for her high school team while she and another student challenge a New Hampshire ban.
The families of Parker Tirrell, 15, and Iris Turmelle, 14, filed a lawsuit last Friday seeking to overturn the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act" that Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law last month.
Tirrell, who is starting 10th grade this year at Plymouth Regional High School, played soccer with the girls' team in 9th grade and said she wants to start practicing with the team again ahead of the first game on Aug. 30.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty granted the request finding that Tirrell had demonstrated likely success on the merits of the case. The two sides now have 14 days to schedule a hearing on the plaintiffs' broader motion for a preliminary order blocking the state from enforcing the law while the case proceeds.
The issue of how to treat transgender athletes has been fiercely debated across the U.S. in recent years and has sparked numerous lawsuits. Two weeks ago, a Florida school employee who allowed her transgender daughter to play on the high school's girls volleyball team was suspended for 10 days. The employee is part of a federal lawsuit to block the state's law. Meanwhile a legal challenge to Connecticut's policy about trans students competing in school sports has been making it's way through the court system for several years.
The suit says both girls have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, feelings of distress due to a mismatch between their birth sex and their gender identity. Both have been taking puberty-blocking medication to prevent bodily changes such as muscle development, facial hair growth or a deepening voice that might add to that distress.
The lawsuit claims the New Hampshire law violates constitutional protections and federal laws because the teens are being denied equal educational opportunities and are being discriminated against because they are transgender.
The lawsuit names New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut and other education officials as defendants.
New Hampshire's Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act" into law last month, and it takes effect next week.
He said at the time that the law was widely supported and that New Hampshire was joining nearly half of all U.S. states in taking such a measure.
The law "ensures fairness and safety in women's sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions," Sununu said in a statement last month.
Turmelle is entering her first year of high school at Pembroke Academy and says she's looking forward to trying out for both the tennis and track and field teams.
"I'm a transgender girl, I've known that my whole life and everyone knows I'm a girl," she said in a statement. "I don't understand why I shouldn't get to have the same opportunities as other girls at school."
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Concord, seeks for an immediate ruling to allow both girls to play or participate in tryouts. The girls and their families are represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the ACLU of New Hampshire and Goodwin.
"New Hampshire cannot justify singling out transgender girls to deny them essential educational benefits available to other students," said Chris Erchull, a senior staff attorney at GLAD.