Two transgender teenagers and their families have filed a lawsuit against New Hampshire education officials over a new state law that prohibits them from competing on girls’ sports teams at their public high schools. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court in Concord and requests that Parker Tirrell, 15, be allowed to play with the girls’ soccer team and Iris Turmelle, 14, be permitted to try out for the girls’ tennis and track and field teams.
House Bill 1205, scheduled to go into effect on Monday, would ban both girls from playing on any girls’ sports teams at their schools, according to court documents. New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill into law last month, citing that it “ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions.”
The advocacy group GLAD, the ACLU of New Hampshire, and the law firm Goodwin Procter, who represent the girls and their families, allege that the state law denies Tirrell and Turmelle equal educational opportunities and discriminates against them because they are transgender, which violates federal law and the constitutional right to equality.
“The law denies them the many educational, social, and physical and mental health benefits that come with playing sports, isolating them from friends and teammates while singling them out for discrimination solely because they are transgender girls,” GLAD said in a statement.
The lawsuit has come at a time of intense debate in the US over bans on transgender athletes. Recently, a South Florida school district suspended an employee for 10 days for allowing her transgender daughter to play on a girls’ high school volleyball team in 2022 and 2023, which violated state law. In April, a federal appeals court ruled against West Virginia’s anti-transgender sports ban, which was a setback for one of the nearly two dozen similar laws enacted by GOP-led states.
Advocates for transgender youth rallied outside the New Hampshire State House in Concord on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.
Both Tirrell and Turmelle have known from an early age that they are girls and have interacted with others as girls in every aspect of their lives. They have been accepted as girls by their parents, family, schools, peers, teammates, and coaches. The girls have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, a health condition characterized by distress resulting from a mismatch between one’s birth sex and gender identity. They are receiving puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapy to alleviate the distress of physical characteristics that conflict with their gender identity.
Tirrell, a rising tenth grader at Plymouth Regional High School, played on the girls’ soccer team last year and was looking forward to joining her teammates later this month when the season kicks off.
“Playing soccer with my teammates is where I feel the most free and happy. We’re there for each other, win or lose,” Tirrell said in a statement. “Not being allowed to play on my team with the other girls would disconnect me from so many of my friends and make school so much harder. I just want to be myself and to learn, play, and support my teammates like I did last year.”
Tirrell’s mother, Sara, said in a statement being excluded from the team could have an adverse effect on her daughter.
“Any parent wants to know their child is healthy, happy, and feels like they belong. That is no different for my husband and me as parents of a transgender daughter. I am really worried about the harmful impact it will have on Parker’s self-esteem and wellbeing if she is told she has to start the new school year without joining her teammates on the field.”
New Hampshire is one of 25 states that have statewide laws prohibiting transgender students from participating on sports teams that match their gender identity. This information comes from the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank. The lawsuit includes New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, as well as other state and local officials.