GLAD attorney Chris Erchull is optimistic after U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty extended the temporary restraining order to allow trans student Parker Tirrell (black dress) to continue playing girls soccer. However, trans student Iris Turmelle (plaid sweater) will have to wait for the individual hearing in the fall.

U.S. District Judge Landya McCafferty again ruled on Tuesday that the state of New Hampshire cannot enforce its law that prohibits biological males from participating in girls’ sports.

The judge issued a temporary restraining order allowing 15-year-old Parker Tirrell to play on the Plymouth High School girls’ soccer team. Tirrell and 14-year-old Iris Turmelle have filed suit challenging the state’s new Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.

When Governor Chris Sununu signed the bill last month, New Hampshire became the 26th state to pass laws protecting girls’ sports from male athletes.

New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella and his office are defending the law both in New Hampshire and nationally. His attorneys are in court before Judge McCafferty, and he has joined 25 other attorneys general in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the issue.

“We will continue to vigorously defend this new law and determine next steps once the court issues its order,” Formella said.

In New Hampshire, both sides have requested a trial before a single judge rather than a jury. McCafferty indicated during Tuesday’s hearing that she would likely rule in favor of Tirrell and Turmelle. She said she believes New Hampshire’s law violates Title IX, the law protecting women’s sports, and Title XII, the law against employment discrimination.

If McCafferty does overturn the law, the decision on whether to appeal will almost certainly be made by the next governor of New Hampshire. And if it’s a Democrat, it’s almost certain that the law will be overturned and girls will once again have to compete against biological males.

Neither former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig nor Councillor Cinde Warmington would answer NHJournal’s questions about the case, but they have both made it clear that they oppose the new law.

“These bills are an attack on vulnerable trans children across New Hampshire. Our state needs leadership that focuses on results, not division. As governor, I will always stand up for our citizens’ right to live authentically, without demonization,” Craig said.

Executive Councilwoman Cinde Warmington, who is running against Craig in the Democratic primary, linked the exclusion of boys from girls’ sports teams to violent hate crimes when the law was passed this summer.

“We have seen a rise in hate crimes against our LGBTQ+ community, in part because radical Republicans have villainized trans kids who are already vulnerable and at higher risk of suicide. When I am governor, everyone will be free to love who they love and be who they are,” Warmington said on social media.

The two Republican gubernatorial candidates represent completely different views.

Chuck Morse, who is running against Kelly Ayotte in the Republican primary, says he would fight for an appeal if elected.

“As governor, I would definitely appeal if the court ruled against the state. It’s about fairness and protecting women’s right to play sports on equal terms. For me, it’s very simple: boys should play against boys and girls should play against girls,” Morse said.

Ayotte agrees.

“As the only candidate for governor who has actually argued before the Supreme Court, I will do whatever it takes to defend our state. As the proud mother of an athlete who is a national champion in three sports, I believe protecting women’s sports is a matter of fairness. Women have fought for decades to achieve that fairness through Title IX. When I am governor, New Hampshire’s female athletes will have a champion in the corner office,” Ayotte said.

Polls show that Granite State residents overwhelmingly support allowing girls to participate in girls’ sports rather than forcing them to compete against biological males who identify as female. And that’s not just theory. Earlier this year, a biological male took first place in the girls’ high jump competition, beating all women at the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association (NHIAA) indoor track and field championships.

At the global level, the two best boxers in women’s Olympic boxing both had male chromosomes.

Attorneys for Tirrell and Turmelle are seeking to prevent the law from taking effect across the state, arguing that barring transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports is discriminatory.

“This law was created to prevent trans girls from playing sports with other girls… The only difference is their sex assigned at birth. Girls who were not assigned female at birth are excluded,” said Chris Erchull, an attorney with GLAD, the organization of GLBTQ lawyers and advocates representing Tirrell and Turmelle.

Assistant Attorney General Micheal DeGrandis argued that public institutions such as schools are permitted to distinguish between boys and girls based on precedent. New Hampshire law provides for this distinction in an objective and fair manner by requiring every student to play on sports teams that correspond to their biological sex assigned at birth.

“We’re not trying to define ‘gender’ at all, we’re just saying, ‘What does it say on your birth certificate?'” DeGrandis explained.

While the law could mean that students like Tirrell and Turmelle must play coed sports instead, that doesn’t make the law unconstitutional. The law was enacted to protect competitive fairness in girls’ sports and to protect biological girls from potential injuries, DeGrandis said.

“There was no discriminatory intent or hostility. This was an attempt to solve legitimate problems, even if people disagreed about how best to go about it,” DeGrandis said.

Opponents of the law should not have a court case at their disposal, said DeGrandis, but rather the democratic political process, pointing out that elections are coming up in a few months.

“The court should not make decisions for the legislature,” he said.

McCafferty extended the temporary restraining order allowing Tirrell to practice and play soccer with the girls’ team for another two weeks. McCafferty could rule on any restraining order the teens are seeking against the law during that time. That restraining order would likely remain in effect throughout any trial.