A federal judge on Tuesday issued a partial injunction blocking the implementation 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, took effect in July and requires students in grades 5 through 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 that ban sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities.
Tuesday’s injunction applies only to the two teenage plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Iris Turmell, 14, a freshman at Pembroke Academy in Pembroke, and Parker Tyrrell, 15, a sophomore at Plymouth Regional High School in Plymouth.
To comply with the new law, Turmel was unable to try out for the school’s track and tennis teams at the start of the new semester last month.
“I was really looking forward to attending a new school and trying out for track and field and tennis, but HB 1205 has taken that opportunity away. I just want to have the same opportunities as the other girls at my school,” Turmel said in a statement. “I’m so happy knowing that now I’ll have the chance to try out for the team, learn, play and make new friends.”
The same judge who issued Tuesday’s injunction, U.S. District Judge Landia McCafferty, issued a similar emergency order last month that applied only to Tyrrell, allowing her to attend her high school football team’s practice and first game of the season. But that order was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, according to Parker’s mother, Sarah Tyrrell.
In his latest ruling, Judge McCafferty expanded the scope of his previous order, saying that “Plaintiffs are likely to succeed on a substantial portion of their Title IX claims” and that “without a preliminary injunction, Plaintiffs will likely suffer irreparable harm.”
“Regardless of whether other sporting opportunities exist, without a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs will be publicly identified as targets of discriminatory treatment based on an immutable characteristic,” Judge McCafferty ruled. “The stigma and humiliation that will result from such treatment of children by the state are significant and irreparable.”
In a joint statement, the plaintiffs’ lawyers, Massachusetts-based nonprofit GLBTQ Legal Advocacy (GLAD), the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and law firm Goodwin Procter called the court’s order a “positive step.”
“While Parker and Iris are the only two plaintiffs in this lawsuit, the Court has made clear that this law is a discriminatory practice that violates the U.S. Constitution and Title IX,” Chris Urchall, staff attorney for GLAD, said in an email to NBC News. “It will now be up to schools and school districts throughout New Hampshire to decide whether to comply with their obligations under the U.S. Constitution and Title IX.”
Since 2020, 25 states have passed laws banning some or all transgender students from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank.
Supporters of the bills argue that some transgender athletes, particularly transgender girls, may have an unfair competitive advantage, while critics of the bills argue that they unfairly prevent transgender athletes from participating in school sports, a typical youth experience.
The Biden administration expanded Title IX rules in April to include protections for students based on sexual orientation and gender identity, but the rule notably makes no mention of transgender athletes.
Additionally, the expansion of Title IX rules has been temporarily blocked in at least 10 states, and lawsuits are ongoing in about 10 more. Former President Donald Trump has vowed to roll back Biden’s expansion if he is re-elected to the White House.
In addition to the sports bill, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) addressed two separate bills affecting the state’s transgender community in July. The governor signed a bill that goes into effect next year that would ban transgender minors from undergoing gender-reassignment surgery and prohibit doctors from referring patients for surgery out of state. He also vetoed a bill that would restrict which restrooms transgender people can use.
In a statement at the time, Governor Sununu said his actions on the three bills “reflect commonsense, bipartisan solutions that reflect the values of parents across our state.”
A representative for Sununu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the injunction on Tuesday.
Correction (Sept. 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated which plaintiffs are affected by Tuesday’s ruling. It is not just Iris Turmell who is affected, but two other transgender plaintiffs.
