Latest news with #FairnessinWomen'sSportsAct
Yahoo
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawyers look to have Trump dropped from NH transgender sports ban lawsuit
Attorneys for the Trump administration have filed a motion seeking to be dropped from a lawsuit filed by two transgender teens fighting a New Hampshire law and a presidential executive order banning them from playing girls school sports. The families of Parker Tirrell, 16, and Iris Turmelle, 14, and the civil rights advocates representing them filed a motion in February in U.S. District Court in Concord to expand their lawsuit to challenge President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender athletes from playing in girls and women's sports. In a motion filed Friday, Deputy Associate Attorney General Richard Lawson argued attorneys for Tirrell and Turmelle — following months of litigation challenging state law — are now attempting to 'drag the federal government into a lawsuit well under way not because of any imminent injury, but because of a generalized grievance with policies set by the President of the United States.' 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,' signed into law last July. The law requires athletes in grades 5-12 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 is being challenged in court. Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 5 called 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports' to bar transgender girls and women from playing in girls and women's sports. Just two days after attorneys for Tirrell and Turmelle filed their motion to add Trump as a defendant in their lawsuit, the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association told schools to abide by the order, saying in a news release that noncompliance could lead to 'possible consequences to federal funding.' In the motion filed Friday, Lawson argued attorneys for Tirrell and Turmelle failed to claim the federal defendants have taken 'a single action' to implement the executive order against the plaintiffs, the plaintiffs' schools, or 'even in the state of New Hampshire.' 'What's worse, plaintiffs' attempts to rope the federal defendants into this case are based on flawed understanding of Equal Protection law' and separation of powers, the motion states. 'Plaintiffs lack constitutional standing and their stated speculative risk of future injury is not close to imminent and may never become ripe,' Lawson argued in his motion. The motion asks the judge to dismiss the claims against Trump, the justice and education departments and department heads. 'Plaintiffs assert a Fifth Amendment equal protection claim alleging that the 'Sports Order' impermissibly discriminates 'on the basis of sex,'' Lawson wrote, adding the plaintiffs also argued the order discriminates based on 'transgender status.' 'The Sports Order simply reaffirms that males and females are not similarly situated when it comes to sports,' Lawson wrote. 'The Supreme Court recognizes that 'differences between men and women' are 'enduring' and thus sex is not an inherently 'proscribed classification.' The biological differences between the sexes make them dissimilarly situated in sports, with males having a distinct physical advantage.'
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Woman sues Keararge board, saying rights violated during trans-athlete debate
Attorneys for a Nashua woman filed a lawsuit in federal court Thursday claiming her First Amendment rights were violated when she was 'silenced and threatened with police intervention' after referring to a biologically male athlete on a girls soccer team as a 'tall boy' during a Kearsarge Regional School Board meeting last summer. Attorneys from the Institute for Free Speech, along with local counsel Roy S. McCandless, say Beth Scaer attended the Aug. 29, 2024, meeting to speak out against transgender athletes in girls high school sports, after members of the Kearsarge Regional School Board announced that it would revisit its decision to enforce House Bill 1205, a state law that limited participation in interscholastic girls sports to biological females. Free Speech Complaint The Kearsarge Regional School District is based in New London. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Concord, claims Kearsarge board members silenced Scaer 'just seconds' into her remarks, with board Chair Alison Mastin declaring Scaer's speaking time forfeited, and warning her that police would intervene if she continued speaking and threatening to have the police remove her for violating an unwritten policy against 'derogatory comments' for referring to a biologically male athlete on the girls' soccer team as a 'tall boy." While Scaer was speaking, many attendees in the meeting room "jeered, and hissed to express their opposition to her comments," the lawsuit claims. "Some audience members applauded Mastin for interrupting Beth and cutting her off early," the lawsuit says. "Scaer attempted to protest Mastin's silencing her, but — due to the jeers, hissing, and applause — it was difficult to hear Scaer. Mastin and the school board made no attempt to quiet the crowd so that Scaer's comments could be heard." The lawsuit claims other speakers were given a full three minutes to express support for the transgender athlete by name, with one attendee displaying a sign with the athlete's name on it — which the board allowed. The lawsuit claims the board's actions are unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination that violates the First Amendment. The suit also argues that the unwritten 'no derogatory comments' rule is unreasonable, vague, overbroad, and selectively enforced against disfavored viewpoints. 'School boards cannot invent speech rules on the fly to silence citizens expressing views they dislike,' Institute for Free Speech attorney Nathan Ristuccia said. 'This unwritten rule about 'derogatory' comments gives the board unchecked power to determine which speech is acceptable and which isn't — precisely what the First Amendment prohibits." The Kearsarge meeting featured a heated debate over the state's Fairness in Women's Sports Act, a law reserving girls sports for biological females. The district had previously voted to follow the law, but following the incident with Scaer, the Kearsarge board reversed course, voting 5-1 to allow the transgender athlete to compete on the girls soccer team. 'Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to address their elected officials without fear of censorship,' Scaer said. 'This case is about ensuring that all citizens — regardless of their viewpoint — can participate in public meetings and comment on issues that are important to the community.' The lawsuit seeks to enjoin enforcement of the 'no derogatory comments' rule, prevent discrimination against speech based on viewpoint, and establish that Scaer's First Amendment rights were violated. Scaer's attorneys also say the lawsuit aims to ensure that Scaer, and others, can speak freely at future board meetings without fear of censorship, retaliation, or removal simply for expressing controversial or dissenting views. A request for comment from Kearsarge school officials was not immediately answered. In a separate lawsuit filed last year, Beth Scaer and her husband, Stephen, claimed their free speech rights were violated after they applied to fly two different flags, a pro-life flag and a Pine Tree flag on flagpoles at City Hall Plaza in Nashua. A federal judge ruled Nashua officials didn't violate the couple's First Amendment rights when they rejected their application, denying their request for a preliminary injunction. The Scaers are appealing that decision. pfeely@
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Attorneys for female athletes defend Trump order on women's sports in NH case
Feb. 24—Attorneys representing Female Athletes United filed a motion Friday in federal court to intervene in the suit brought by two New Hampshire transgender high school athletes. The organization is looking to defend the state's new transgender sports law and two executive orders by President Donald Trump, which it says protect women's sports. Female Athletes United, which has members in New Hampshire and across the country who say they have lost in athletic competitions to male athletes, is being represented by lawyers from the Alliance Defending Freedom. HB 1205, a state law also known as the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," was enacted last summer, but a federal judge blocked enforcement after attorneys for the families of Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, the two transgender teens, challenged the law. Tirrell, a sophomore at Plymouth Regional High School, was allowed to play girls soccer for Plymouth last fall. Turmelle, a freshman at Pembroke Academy, wanted to try out for girls tennis this spring. The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association told member schools to follow Trump's Feb. 5 executive order called "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports," saying in a news release that noncompliance could lead to "possible consequences to federal funding." Attorneys for the families have now expanded the lawsuit and challenged that Trump order and one that he signed on Jan. 20 titled "Defending Women from Gender Ideology and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government" and "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports. "The Trump Administration's executive orders amount to a coordinated campaign to prevent transgender people from functioning in society," said Chris Erchull, senior staff attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), which is representing the families along with the ACLU of New Hampshire. "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. "School sports are an important part of education — something no child should be denied simply because of who they are." In their brief, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Concord, Female Athletes United's lawyers say the organization has members across the country who want to "compete on a safe and level playing field and cannot do so if they are forced to compete against males." "That includes members who have been forced to compete against male athletes who identify as female," the brief says. "And it includes members who have had to do so in New Hampshire. Plus, the facial relief that plaintiffs seek extends beyond just sports teams. It would affect the executive orders' protections for female locker rooms, restrooms, and other private spaces, and (Female Athletes United) and its members also have a concrete interest in keeping males out of those private spaces." "Women and girls deserve privacy, safety, and equal opportunities. That can't happen when males are competing in women's sports, taking spots on women's athletic teams, and winning women's championships," Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel and vice president of litigation Jonathan Scruggs said in a statement. "President Trump's executive orders and New Hampshire's law merely recognize common sense and track Title IX, the federal law that ensures equal opportunities for women in athletics. While the rest of the world is returning to biological reality, activists continue to push gender ideology in schools and sports across the country. "But female athletes have already suffered enough humiliation of losing to males in women's sports and being told to stay silent — we are urging the court to consider their voices when deciding this vital case." pfeely@
Fox News
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
New Hampshire follows Trump's transgender sports executive order despite lawsuit from two trans athletes
New Hampshire is following President Donald Trump's executive order to prohibit transgender athletes from competing against girls and women. Prior to the order, according to New Hampshire Public Radio, the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association deferred to athletes and their districts on their eligibility. But the association reversed course, citing a potential lack of federal funding. "In light of these developments, the NHIAA has consulted with legal counsel and determined that it would be prudent to further clarify the NHIAA's requirements," association Executive Director Jeffrey Collins wrote, adding schools have a responsibility to "comply with state and federal law." WCAX noted that a statement from the Department of Education "commend[ed] the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association for changing its policies that allowed students to play on a team that matched their gender identity, not biological sex." Former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed the state's Fairness in Women's Sports Act in July, but a lawsuit filed by the families of trans athletes followed and remains active. The suit alleges the New Hampshire law Sununu signed violates constitutional protections and federal laws because the teens are being denied equal educational opportunities and are being discriminated against because they are transgender. The teenage plaintiffs, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, originally filed the lawsuit last year to challenge the law. Earlier this month, though, a federal judge granted a request to add the Trump administration to the list of defendants due to the president's recent executive order. The situation involving the two transgender athletes has also prompted a second lawsuit after parents wore wristbands that said "XX" in reference to the biological female chromosomes and were allegedly banned from school grounds. Trump signed the "No Men in Women's Sports" executive order Feb. 5, which prohibited any federal funding for educational institutions that allow biological males to compete on women's or girls sports teams. New Hampshire was already one of 25 states with a law in place to enforce similar bans on transgender inclusion, but Tirrell and Turmelle have been allowed to compete on girls teams anyway due to a ruling by a federal judge in their state. Representatives from California, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Maine have all said they would continue to follow state law and ignore Trump's order, which has resulted in Title IX investigations. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NHIAA sides with Trump over trans sports ban
Feb. 19—The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association told schools to abide by President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender girls from playing girls sports. Just two days after attorneys for Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle filed a motion to add Trump as a defendant in an ongoing legal battle over a new state law banning them from playing girls sports, the 21-member NHIAA Council announced it had unanimously capitulated to Trump's Feb. 5 order. With the NHIAA suspending its own rule and telling schools to follow all state and federal laws on the matter, school districts essentially lost the ability to determine a trans athlete's eligibility to play without solidarity with or the protection of the NHIAA. The NHIAA Council is made up of athletic directors, school principals, superintendents, members of the NH School Boards Association and politically appointed members of the State Board of Education. In a press release issued Friday but not received by the Union Leader, NHIAA Executive Director Jeffrey Collins made it clear that "possible consequences to federal funding" would be held over local school officials' heads for noncompliance. The responsibility was placed entirely on schools. HB 1205, a state law also known as the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act," was enacted last summer, but a federal judge blocked enforcement after Tirrell and Turmelle's families sued the state in U.S. District Court, challenging the constitutionality of the measure. "By-Law Article II Section 21 has been suspended pending further review," Collins advised in the written statement. "Member schools remain responsible for ensuring compliance with state and federal law regarding gender-based eligibility determinations, which may be reviewed as appropriate per the due process procedures found in NHIAA By-Law Article V, Section 1, B." The NHIAA's ruling went into effect Friday. Collins declined to comment on the NHIAA's action Wednesday. Back to court? Last week, Chris Erchull, an attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law), said if a school district or state entity enforced Trump's ban, Tirrell and Turmelle might need to ask for emergency relief and file a motion to block enforcement of what he called the president's discriminatory order. Erchull and the ACLU of New Hampshire are representing Tirrell, a sophomore at Plymouth Regional High School and Turmelle, a freshman at Pembroke Academy. Tirrell was allowed to play girls soccer for Plymouth last fall and Turmelle wanted to try out for girls tennis this spring. Both girls and likely any other high school trans athletes should be allowed to play under U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty's order blocking enforcement of HB 1205. Ben Klein, a GLAD Law attorney, said Wednesday the preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the state law should also apply to Trump's executive order now that they've added him to the case. "Things could change, but right now, we're litigating the case based on our second amended complaint, which challenges the executive order as unconstitutional and exceeding the president's authority," Klein said. "I think it's important to keep in mind also that the NHIAA has not prohibited transgender girls from playing sports. What they've done is they've essentially decided to suspend their policy and remain neutral." Case timeline The case was initially scheduled to go to trial Nov. 10 this year, but Trump's order combined with the NHIAA's ruling could lead to a series of court motions and filings that could postpone the trial. Also complicating matters, state Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut is seeking to be removed from the case as a defendant. The lawsuit's shortened name is Tirrell v. Edelblut, but the state Attorney General's Office said the commissioner was not appropriately named with the other defendants because he lacks jurisdiction to enforce state law. Edelblut, a former Republican state representative who has previously had lofty political aspirations, has been education commissioner since being appointed in 2017 by former Gov. Chris Sununu, who narrowly defeated him in the 2016 primary. The plaintiffs objected to dismissing Edelblut from the case in December. Klein said he did not anticipate any major actions involving the lawsuit for now. dpierce@
