On August 16, 2024, the families of two New Hampshire public high school students filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging a new state law, HB 1205, which categorically bans all transgender girls in grades 5-12 from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity.
Parker Tirrell is entering tenth grade this year. Parker played on her high school girls’ soccer team in ninth grade and is excited to rejoin her teammates when competition starts again on August 30, 2024. Iris Turmelle is entering her first year of high school and is looking forward to trying out for and playing with the tennis and track and field teams.
Under HB 1205, Parker and Iris’s schools are commanded to bar them from their teams. 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.
The lawsuit, Tirrell and Turmelle v. Edelblut, alleges that HB 1205 denies Parker and Iris equal educational opportunities and singles them out for discrimination solely because they are transgender, in violation of federal law and constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
Motions filed on August 16, 2024 also ask the court for immediate relief (here and here) to allow Parker to play with her team as the season gets underway and to allow Iris to participate in tryouts for this year’s tennis and track and field teams.
On August 19, 2024, the court issued a temporary restraining order allowing Parker to play with her team as the season gets underway until August 27, 2024. During the August 27, 2024 hearing on Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, the temporary restraining order was extended to September 10, 2024. On September 10, 2024, the court issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law against plaintiffs Parker and Iris while their case proceeds. The court ruled that the law discriminates against transgender students in violation of Title IX and the U.S. Constitution. The judge ruled that “HB 1205, on its face, discriminates against transgender girls,” that it “is not even a close call.” The ruling goes on to say, “The stigma and humiliation that comes from such treatment of a child at the hands of the State is substantial and irreparable.”
Parker, Iris, and their families are represented by Chris Erchull and Ben Klein at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), Henry Klementowicz and Gilles Bissonnette at the ACLU of New Hampshire, and Louis Lobel, Kevin DeJong, and Elaine Blais at Goodwin.
As the lawsuit explains, Parker and Iris are teenage girls whose high school experience hangs in the balance because HB 1205 is poised to stop them from playing sports. Sports are a pillar of education in New Hampshire public schools because of the countless benefits of physical activity in a team environment, including physical and mental health, leadership skills, and social development. New Hampshire cannot justify singling out transgender girls to deny them essential educational benefits available to other students.
Further, Parker and Iris are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect like every other student. Instead, HB 1205 stigmatizes and discriminates against transgender girls and tells them they aren't deserving of the same educational opportunities to other girls in public schools. All students do better in school when they have access to resources that improve their mental, emotional, and physical health and Parker and Iris deserve that same access. The start of a new school year brings excitement and challenges for all students, but unlike their peers, Parker and Iris are facing their new year being told they are less deserving of an equal education because of who they are.