New Hampshire transgender teen can play girls’ sports, federal judge rules

A federal judge issued an injunction Tuesday partially blocking the enforcement of a New Hampshire law that bars some transgender students from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity.

The law, House Bill 1205, was enacted in July and requires students in grades 5-12 to compete on school sports teams that match the gender listed on their birth certificates. Last month, two transgender teenage girls and their families sued New Hampshire education officials, arguing that  the measure violates Title IX civil rights rules, which prevent sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities.

Tuesday’s injunction solely applies to one of the two teenage plaintiffs in the case, Iris Turmelle, 14, a freshman at Pembroke Academy in Pembroke. In observance of the new law, Turmelle was prevented from trying out for her school’s track and tennis teams at the start of the school year last month.

“I was really looking forward to starting at my new school and trying out for track and tennis, but HB 1205 took that chance away. I just want the same opportunities as other girls at school,” Turmelle said in a statement.” I’m really happy to know I now have the chance to try out for a team, learn, play and make new friends.”

The same judge who issued Tuesday’s injunction, United States District Judge Landya McCafferty, last month issued a similar emergency order that allowed the other teen plaintiff, Parker Tirrell, 15, to join her high school’s soccer team for practice and the first games of the season. 

In her latest ruling, McCafferty reasoned that the “plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their Title IX claims” and that they “are likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction.”

“Regardless of the availability of other athletic opportunities, in the absence of a preliminary injunction plaintiffs would be publicly singled out for discriminatory treatment based on an immutable characteristic,” McCafferty ruled. “The stigma and humiliation that comes from such treatment of a child at the hands of the State is substantial and irreparable.”

The plaintiffs’ representation — Massachusetts-based nonprofit GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and law firm Goodwin Procter — called the court’s order a “positive step forward” in a joint statement.

“The only plaintiffs in this case are Parker and Iris, but the court is clear that the law is discriminatory in violation of US Constitution and Title IX,” Chris Erchull, a staff attorney at GLAD, said in an email to NBC News. “It will be up to schools and school districts across NH to make a determination about whether to comply with their obligations under the US Constitution and Title IX.”

Starting in 2020, 25 states have passed laws banning some or all trans students from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identities, according to LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project.

Supporters of the measures say some trans athletes, particularly trans girls, can have unfair competitive advantages, while critics of these laws say they unfairly prevent trans athletes from participating in school sports, a typical adolescent experience. 

The Biden administration expanded Title IX rules in April to include protections for students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The rules notably did not mention the issue of trans athletes. 

Moreover, the expansion of the Title IX rules is temporarily blocked in at least 10 states and faces ongoing court challenges in roughly 10 others. If re-elected to the White House, former President Donald Trump has vowed to reverse Biden’s expansion. 

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, took action on two separate bills affecting the state’s trans community in July, in addition to the sports measure. He signed legislation that takes effect next year that will prevent trans minors from receiving transition-related surgery and will bar physicians from referring patients for out-of-state procedures, and he vetoed a bill that would have limited which restrooms trans people could access.

Sununu said in a statement at the time that his action on the three bills “reflect commonsense, bipartisan solutions that reflect the values of parents across our state.” 

A representative for Sununu did not immediately return a request for comment regarding Tuesday’s injunction.