The families of 2 New Hampshire public high school students have filed a lawsuit Tirrell & Turmelle v. Edelblut challenging a new state law HB 1205 that categorically bans all transgender girls in grades 5-12 from participating in school sports. Parker Tirrell is a tenth grader & Iris Turmelle is entering her first year of high school. Parker Tirrell stated, “Playing soccer with my teammates is where I feel the most free & happy. We’re there for each other, win or lose. Not being allowed to play on my team with the other girls would disconnect me from so many of my friends & make school so much harder. I just want to be myself & to learn, play & support my teammates like I did last year.” Iris Turmelle concluded, “Starting high school is exciting & new. I played intramural tennis in middle school. I’ve been looking forward to trying out for the tennis & track teams because it will be a way to make more friends in my new school & I know I’ll learn a lot from it. I’m a transgender girl, I’ve known that my whole life & everyone knows I’m a girl. I don’t understand why I shouldn’t get to have the same opportunities as other girls at school.” Under HB 1205, Parker & Iris’s schools are commanded to bar them from their teams. The law denies them the many educational, social & physical & mental health benefits that come with playing sports isolating them from friends & teammates while singling them out for discrimination solely because they are transgender girls.
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