Two transgender teenage girls and their families sued New Hampshire education officials on Friday, challenging a new law that would ban transgender students in the state from competing on school sports teams that match their gender identity.
The bill, House Bill 1205, goes into effect Monday and will require students in grades 5 through 12 to compete on school sports teams that match the gender listed on their birth certificates.
Parker Tyrrell, 15, and Iris Turmell, 14, along with their families, argue in their lawsuit that the new law violates Title 9 of the Federal Civil Rights Act, which bans sex discrimination in federally funded education programs or activities.
A spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Education said in an email that the department does not comment on pending litigation and referred NBC News to the state attorney general’s office, which is “reviewing the complaint and will respond appropriately,” Mike Garrity, a spokesman for the New Hampshire attorney general’s office, said in an email.
Tyrrell, who will be a sophomore at Plymouth Regional High School, said the school administration has already banned her from joining the girls’ soccer team.
“Not being able to play on a team with other girls has alienated me from many of my friends and made school a much harder experience,” Tyrrell said in a statement. “I just want to be myself and continue to learn, play and support my teammates just like I did last year.”
Turmell, a freshman at Pembroke Academy in Pembroke, has not yet been explicitly barred from participating in school sports, but she plans to try out for the school’s girls tennis and track teams.
“I am a transgender girl. I have known that my whole life and everyone knows I am a girl,” Turmel said in a statement. “I don’t understand why I shouldn’t have the same opportunities as other girls at school.”
Since Idaho enacted a law restricting transgender students’ participation in school sports in 2020, a total of 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 these laws argue that some transgender athletes may have an unfair competitive advantage, while critics say the laws are discriminatory and prevent transgender students from accessing the benefits of school sports.
“Athletics is a pillar of the educational curriculum in New Hampshire’s public schools because of the myriad benefits of athletics in a team environment, including mental and physical health, leadership skills and social development,” said Chris Urchal, staff attorney for the Massachusetts-based nonprofit GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). “New Hampshire cannot justify singling out transgender girls to deny them important educational benefits available to other students.”
The Tyrrell and Turmel families are represented by GLAD, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and the law firm Goodwin Procter.
In April, the Biden administration expanded Title IX to include protections for LGBTQ students, but the rule did not address transgender athletes. More than 20 Republican-led states sued the administration over the new rule, and in June, a federal court temporarily blocked it from going into effect after 10 states challenged it.
New Hampshire’s transgender sports law, signed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu last month, is one of two bills affecting the state’s transgender community. The other bill will ban transgender minors from undergoing gender-reassignment surgery starting next year and prohibit doctors from referring patients for surgery outside the state.
In a statement at the time, Governor Sununu said the bill “reflects a commonsense, bipartisan solution that reflects the values of parents across our state.”
Last month, Governor Sununu vetoed a bill that would have restricted which restrooms transgender people could use.
A representative for Sununu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit on Friday.
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