As young athletes prepare for another fall sports season, some local school districts are still figuring out how to implement a new state law that bars transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.
The law, which went into effect on Aug. 19, requires middle and high school sports teams to be divided into one of three categories “based on the participants’ sex at birth” — boys, girls, women and mixed.
A birth certificate or similar document verifying the athlete’s assigned sex at birth will be required.
Lawyers with GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defense (GLAD) and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire challenged the law in federal court earlier this month, arguing that it is unconstitutional and violates Title IX gender protections, and this week a federal judge temporarily blocked the law, allowing one of the plaintiffs, a Plymouth High School student, to play on his school’s football team until the court reconvenes.
But as the case plays out in court, school districts are wondering what the law means for students and how the ongoing litigation may change the law’s scope.
In addition to defending his state’s law in a recent federal lawsuit, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella also intervened in a separate U.S. Supreme Court case challenging a similar West Virginia law, urging the justices to uphold the policy.
New Hampshire law states:[the] The State Board of Education, each local board of education, and each governing board of a public charter school shall adopt and implement policies to ensure compliance with this division in the public schools under their respective control.”
In fact, school districts around the state are working with attorneys to figure out how this will affect their athletic programs, even though the season has already begun.
New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut told school principals in a letter sent Aug. 20 that he is aware the law is being challenged in court and will share more information as the situation develops. The department did not respond to NHPR’s questions about whether the State Agenda Commission plans to discuss the law at an upcoming meeting.
Officials in Manchester, the state’s largest school district, are working with their legal team to consider next steps, a spokesman said.
In Keene, school officials are watching the trial closely before formulating a final policy.
“Until the court battle is resolved, we won’t know the full picture of what we’re working on and what we ultimately have to try and do,” School Board Chairman George Downing said.
Last year, Portsmouth’s school board passed a bill allowing students to play on the sports teams that best match their gender identity, but now the board is trying to figure out how to enforce conflicting laws at different levels of government.
“We don’t know which agency will actually be deciding the policy,” said School Board Chair Nancy Novellin Clayburgh, “so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Meanwhile, Dover city officials are trying to craft policies that will make transgender students feel less targeted.
“We’ve made a district-wide decision to require birth certificates for all sports, not just girls, so that we’re not segregating by gender,” Dover School Board Chair Robin Trefethen said.
While Concord is still figuring out how to balance federal regulations with the new law, School Board Chair Pamela Walsh said the district has always sought to be inclusive, “even before the controversy arose.”
“We’ve worked hard to make all of our students feel safe,” she said.