New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella is among 25 Republican attorney generals urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a West Virginia law that bans transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. They argue that Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools, only applies to biological sex, not gender identity.
The Supreme Court is still deciding whether to take up the West Virginia case, which could have implications for over two dozen states with similar laws, including New Hampshire. Two transgender teenagers, Iris Turmelle and Parker Tirrell, have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging New Hampshire’s law, arguing that it violates Title IX by discriminating against them solely because they are trans.
Judge Landya McCafferty ruled in favor of the students in a preliminary ruling, allowing Tirrell to join her school’s soccer team while the lawsuit progresses. The students argue that they have lived as girls for years and are receiving hormone therapy, eliminating any physical advantages associated with male puberty.
School sports have become a contentious issue in political debates over gender, both in New Hampshire and nationally. Governor Chris Sununu signed the sports ban law and also a law prohibiting certain gender-affirming surgeries for minors earlier this summer. The lawsuit brings into focus the ongoing battle over transgender rights and equality in school sports.
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