CONCORD, N.H. (AP) 鈥 A federal judge temporarily cleared the way Monday for a transgender girl to play soccer for her high school team while she and another student challenge a New Hampshire ban.
The families of Parker Tirrell, 15, and Iris Turmelle, 14, seeking to overturn the 鈥淔airness in Women鈥檚 Sports Act鈥 that Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law last month. While Turmelle doesn鈥檛 plan to play sports until December, Tirrell sought an emergency order allowing her to start soccer practice Monday evening.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty granted the request with just hours to spare, finding that Tirrell had demonstrated likely success on the merits of the case. The two sides now have 14 days to schedule a hearing on the plaintiffs鈥 broader motion for a preliminary order blocking the state from enforcing the law while the case proceeds.
The lawsuit said the law violates constitutional protections and federal laws because the teens are being denied equal educational opportunities and are being discriminated against because they are transgender.
The judge questioned how the law, as applied to Tirrell, would protect girls from unfair competition given that the state isn鈥檛 contesting evidence that she has no physiological advantage after taking puberty-blocking medication to prevent bodily changes such as muscle development. McCafferty also found Tirrell had proven that she would suffer irreparable harm without it, another criteria for emergency relief.
Michael DeGrandis, an attorney for the state, argued that missing soccer practice, while 鈥渟tressful,鈥 didn鈥檛 meet that standard, but the girls鈥 lawyer disagreed, saying it would have a 鈥減ermanent, stigmatizing impact.鈥
鈥淲e are very happy with the judge鈥檚 order. It is also what we expected, because we know that this law is unfair and violates the rights of transgender girls of New Hampshire,鈥 Chris Erchull, an attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, said after the hearing.
The rights of transgender people 鈥 and especially young people 鈥 have become a major 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
