Current:Home > Contact-us2 transgender New Hampshire girls can play on girls sports teams during lawsuit, a judge rules-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
2 transgender New Hampshire girls can play on girls sports teams during lawsuit, a judge rules
View Date:2024-12-24 00:35:22
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two transgender girls can try out for and play on girls school sports teams while the teens challenge a New Hampshire ban, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
The families of Parker Tirrell, 15, and Iris Turmelle, 14, sued in August seeking to overturn the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act that Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law in July. While Turmelle doesn’t plan to play sports until December, Tirrell successfully sought an emergency order allowing her to start soccer practice last month. That order was expiring Tuesday.
In issuing a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty found Tirrell and Turmelle were likely to succeed in their lawsuit. She found that the students “demonstrated a likelihood of irreparable harm” in the absence of a preliminary order.
Before the law was enacted, “Parker had been participating in girls’ sports at Plymouth Elementary School and Plymouth Regional High School, and Iris had participated in tennis and tried out for her middle school softball team,” McCafferty wrote. “There is no indication in the record that plaintiffs’ participation in school sports has caused the state or anyone else the slightest modicum of harm.”
McCafferty noted that at a hearing last month, she brought up the possibility of a trial this fall, before winter track season starts for Turmelle. An attorney representing the students said he would be ready for a trial; an attorney for the state did not indicate that.
McCafferty wrote Tuesday that a trial would almost certainly occur well after December.
“We are currently reviewing the court’s decision and are in the process of evaluating the implications of the ruling,” Michael Garrity, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire attorney general’s office, said in a news release. “We remain dedicated to providing a safe environment for all students. The state will continue to consider all legal avenues to ensure that we uphold both the law and our commitment to student welfare.”
A message seeking comment was sent to GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, which represents the students.
McCafferty’s ruling came a day after a federal appeals court upheld a lower-court ruling that blocks Arizona from enforcing a 2022 ban on transgender girls from playing on girls school sports teams.
The New Hampshire lawsuit says the state’s ban violates constitutional protections and federal laws because the teens are being denied equal educational opportunities and are being discriminated against because they are transgender.
Lawyers for the state said the teens’ lawyers haven’t proven their case and haven’t shown why alternatives, such as participating in coed teams, couldn’t be an option.
The bill signed by Sununu bans transgender athletes in grades 5 to 12 from teams that align with their gender identity. It require schools to designate all teams as either girls, boys or coed, with eligibility determined based on students’ birth certificates “or other evidence.”
Sununu had said it “ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions.” He said it added the state to nearly half in the nation that adopted similar measures.
The rights of transgender people — especially young people — have become a major political battleground in recent years as trans visibility has increased. Most Republican-controlled states have banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, and several have adopted policies limiting which school bathrooms trans people can use and barring trans girls from some sports competitions.
veryGood! (395)
Related
- Federal judge orders Oakland airport to stop using ‘San Francisco’ in name amid lawsuit
- Jax Taylor Reveals He’s in “Contract Negotiations” With Brittany for Baby No. 2
- Will Smith Shares Official Statement After Jada Pinkett Smith's Revelations—But It's Not What You Think
- What’s changed — and what hasn’t — a year after Mississippi capital’s water crisis?
- A crowd of strangers brought 613 cakes and then set out to eat them
- Arkansas orders Chinese company’s subsidiary to divest itself of agricultural land
- It's a pink Halloween. Here are some of the most popular costumes of 2023
- Deadly attack in Belgium ignites fierce debate on failures of deportation policy
- Artem Chigvintsev Returns to Dancing With the Stars Ballroom Amid Nikki Garcia Divorce
- Trial begins for 3rd officer charged in connection with Elijah McClain's death
Ranking
- Amazon's 'Cross' almost gets James Patterson detective right: Review
- The latest college campus freebies? Naloxone and fentanyl test strips
- Kansas agency investigated girl’s family 5 times before she was killed, a report shows
- Natalie Sanandaji of Long Island describes escaping Israeli dance festival during Hamas attack: We heard the first gunshots
- Dave Coulier Says He's OK If This Is the End Amid Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Battle
- Italy’s far-right Premier Meloni defies fears of harming democracy and clashing with the EU
- Greta Thunberg charged with public order offense in UK after arrest outside oil industry conference
- Nintendo shows off a surreal masterpiece in 'Super Mario Bros. Wonder'
Recommendation
-
Mississippi governor intent on income tax cut even if states receive less federal money
-
Israeli military faces challenging urban warfare in Gaza
-
New Orleans district attorney and his mother were carjacked, his office says
-
Reba McEntire claims she's 'not the best.' As a coach on 'The Voice', she's here to learn
-
Chrysler recalls over 200k Jeep, Dodge vehicles over antilock-brake system: See affected models
-
More US ships head toward Israel and 2,000 troops are on heightened alert. A look at US assistance
-
ADL official on anti-Jewish, Muslim hate: 'Our fight is often one that is together'
-
Congressional draft report in Brazil recommends charges for Bolsonaro over Jan. 8 insurrection