A federal judge on Tuesday issued an injunction partially blocking enforcement of a New Hampshire law that prohibits some transgender students from participating in school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
The law, House Bill 1205, passed in July and requires students in grades 5-12 to play 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 order applies only to the two teenage plaintiffs in the case: Iris Turmelle, 14, a freshman at Pembroke Academy in Pembroke, and Parker Tirrell, 15, a sophomore at Plymouth Regional High School in Plymouth.
Because of the new law, Turmelle was not allowed to audition for her school’s track and field and tennis teams at the beginning of the school year.
“I was really looking forward to starting at my new school and trying out for track and tennis, but HB 1205 took that opportunity away. I just want the same opportunities as other girls at school,” Turmelle said in a statement. “I’m so happy that I now have the chance to try out for a team, learn, play, and make new friends.”
The same judge who issued Tuesday’s order, United States District Judge Landya McCafferty, issued a similar emergency order last month that applied only to Tirrell, allowing her to join her high school’s soccer team for practice and the first games of the season. That order, however, was set to expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, according to Parker’s mother, Sara Tirrell.
In her latest ruling, McCafferty expanded on her earlier order, finding that “plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their Title IX claims” and that they “are likely to suffer irreparable harm absent injunctive relief.”
“Regardless of the availability of other athletic opportunities, absent injunctive relief, plaintiffs would be publicly singled out for discriminatory treatment based on an immutable characteristic,” McCafferty ruled. “The stigma and humiliation resulting from such treatment of a child by the state are substantial and irreparable.”
In a joint statement, representatives for the plaintiffs — the Massachusetts-based nonprofit GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and the law firm Goodwin Procter — called the court’s ruling a “positive step forward.”
“The only plaintiffs in this case are Parker and Iris, but the court is clear that the law is discriminatory and violates the U.S. Constitution and Title IX,” Chris Erchull, a staff attorney at GLAD, told NBC News in an email. “It is up to schools and school districts across New Hampshire to determine whether they are meeting their obligations under the U.S. Constitution and Title IX.”
According to the LGBTQ think tank Movement Advancement Project, 25 states have passed laws since 2020 banning some or all transgender students from participating in sports teams that align with their gender identity.
Supporters of the measures say some trans athletes, particularly trans girls, could have unfair competitive advantages, while critics of the laws say they unfairly prevent trans athletes from participating in school sports, a typical experience for adolescents.
The Biden administration in April expanded Title IX rules to provide protections for students based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The rules notably did not address the issue of trans athletes.
Additionally, the Title IX expansion has been temporarily blocked in at least 10 states and faces ongoing legal challenges in about 10 others. If re-elected to the White House, former President Donald Trump has vowed to roll back Biden’s expansion.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, took action in July on two separate bills affecting the state’s trans community, in addition to the sports measure. He signed legislation that takes effect next year that would ban trans minors from undergoing transition-related surgeries and prohibit doctors 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 actions on the three bills “reflect common sense and bipartisan solutions that reflect the values of parents in our state.”
A representative for Sununu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday’s order.
CORRECTION (Sept. 10, 2024, 7:30 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated which plaintiffs are affected by Tuesday’s ruling. Both transgender plaintiffs are affected, not just Iris Turmelle.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
