15-year-old Parker Tirrell and 14-year-old Iris Turmelle are taking matters into their own hands, as a new state law threatens to ban their involvement in girl’s sports teams at their respective New Hampshire high schools.
The teens, along with their families, filed a lawsuit Friday in an attempt to block the legislation, House Bill 1205, which was signed into law by New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu and went into effect Monday. The families are being represented by GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the ACLU of New Hampshire and the law firm Goodwin Procter.
The law, referred to as the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” requires students to participate in the sports team that corresponds with their sex assigned at birth. Tirell and Turmelle argue the rule violates their right to equal protection and equal education protected under Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination.
Tirrell, who will be a sophomore at Plymouth Regional High School in September, began taking puberty-blocking medication in May 2023, according to the lawsuit. For the past two years, she played on the girls’ soccer team at Plymouth Elementary and Plymouth Regional High Schools. She wants to be welcomed back to the girls’ team this year. The lawsuit argues that the early implementation of hormones has caused her to “develop physiological changes associated with puberty in females.”
“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,” Tirell said in a statement. “I just want to be myself and to learn, play, and support my teammates like I did last year.”
Turmelle is entering her freshman year at Pembroke Academy and has lived her life as a girl since first grade. She began receiving puberty-blocking medication in May 2023 at the age of 11. As a result, the lawsuit says she has never and will never go through male puberty. Turmelle wants to participate in girls’ tennis and track and field teams to make new friends as she enters the school year.
“I’m a transgender girl, I’ve known that my whole life and everyone knows I’m a girl,” Turmelle said in a statement. “I don’t understand why I shouldn’t get to have the same opportunities as other girls at school.”
Both girls have been medically diagnosed with gender dysphoria and say playing on a boys team would be “painful and humiliating.” In fact, they say they would stop playing sports all together if banned from girls’ teams.
The lawsuit names New Hampshire Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, Chair of the State Board of Education Andrew Cline, six members of the State Board, and multiple other education officials as defendants.
