Two transgender teens fighting a New Hampshire law banning them from playing girls' school sports added a new defendant to their case Wednesday: President Donald Trump.
As reported by The New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, the families of Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, as well as the civil rights advocates representing them, filed a motion Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Concord to expand their lawsuit to challenge Trump's executive order banning transgender athletes from playing in girls and women's sports.
"The systematic targeting of transgender people across American institutions is chilling, but targeting young people in schools, denying them support and essential opportunities during their most vulnerable years, is especially cruel," said Chris Erchull, an attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law). "School sports are an important part of education — something no child should be denied simply because of who they are. Our clients Parker and Iris simply want to go to school, learn, and play on teams with their peers."
Erchull called Trump's order "a new and alarming position for the federal government to take."
According to David Pierce of the Union Leader, GLAD Law and the ACLU of New Hampshire are representing Tirrell and Turmelle, who sued state Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, members of the State Board of Education and the students' respective school districts in August. The case challenges HB 1205, also known as the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," which was signed into state law in July.
The law requires athletes in grades 5 through 12 to play on interscholastic or club teams matching the sex on their birth certificates. In September, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty blocked enforcement of the law while it's being challenged in court, and has stated the act "on its face, discriminates against transgender students in violation of Title IX and the U.S. Constitution."
Tirrell, a sophomore at Plymouth Regional High School, was allowed to play girls' soccer last fall, and Turmelle, a freshman at Pembroke Academy, plans to try out for girls' tennis this spring.
Trump signed an executive order Feb. 5 to bar trans girls and women from playing in girls' and women's sports.
Related: Trump Signs Executive Order Banning Transgender Athletes From Girls' and Women's Sports
Trump's order, along with parts of another executive order he signed his first day back in office, "subject Parker and Iris and all transgender girls to discrimination in violation of federal equal protection guarantees and their rights under Title IX," attorneys for Tirrell and Turmelle said in a written statement.
Henry Klementowicz, deputy legal director at ACLU of N.H. said Trump's orders and the new state law single out transgender students and insinuate that they are not deserving of the same education as other students.
"All students do better when they have access to resources that improve their mental, emotional and physical health," Klementowicz said, as reported by the Union Leader.
According to Pierce, the trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 10, blocking enforcement of the state law until at least next winter's high school sports season.
However, several factors could change the timetable — one being if New Hampshire school officials decide to enforce Trump's executive order immediately, triggering motions for emergency relief for trans athletes, GLAD's Erchull said, adding that including Trump's executive orders in the complaint could also require more time and legal wrangling.
