A federal judge ruled yesterday in favor of a transgender student who challenged the state of New Hampshire’s new law barring all transgender girls in grades 5–12 from participating in school sports. The student, ruled the judge, may continue to practice and play “during an initial phase of a lawsuit over a new state law that governs sex-separated school athletics.”
Reports the Boston Globe:
The decision from Chief Judge Landya B. McCafferty in the US District Court for the District of New Hampshire means 15-year-old Parker Tirrell must be allowed to attend soccer practice Monday with her teammates at Plymouth Regional High School.
The judge said that Tirrell had demonstrated a likelihood of success on both of the arguments in the lawsuit: that barring her from school sports would be a violation of Title IX and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Attorneys for Tirrell and co-plaintiff Iris Turmelle, 14, filed their lawsuit Friday to challenge enforcement of the new law after Tirrell’s parents were notified Thursday that she would no longer be welcome at soccer practice, starting on Monday, since the new law taking effect over the weekend would bar her from the team.
Under the new law, public schools that serve students in fifth through 12th grades, and private schools whose students compete against public schools, must designate each of their interscholastic sports and club athletics teams as being for either males, females, or both. …
The plaintiffs made an emergency motion for relief last week, urging the court to grant a temporary restraining order to protect Tirrell and Turmelle from being denied access to “a critical and uniqueeducational program that cannot be repeated or replaced.” That motion led to Monday’s hearing.
Tirrell is a rising sophomore at Plymouth Regional, and Turmelle is a rising ninth-grader at Pembroke Academy, a public high school. They and their respective parents are represented by three law firms that advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people: GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, and the Goodwin law firm.
Read the complete Boston Globe story here.
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