With legal help from the American Civil Liberties Union, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle are legally challenging the United States administration’s recent and controversial executive order banning transgender females from participating in girls’ sports.
Legal representatives of the pair amended their lawsuit this week, which originally challenged a new state law, HB 1205, which prohibits all transgender girls in grades 5-12 in New Hampshire from participating in school sports.
“The Trump Administration’s executive orders amount to a coordinated campaign to prevent transgender people from functioning in society. 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, Senior Staff Attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD Law) on the firm’s website.
“School sports are an important part of education—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.”
GLAD Law represents Tirell and Turmelle, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire.
“We’re expanding our lawsuit to challenge President Trump’s executive orders because, like the state law, it excludes, singles out, and discriminates against transgender students and insinuates that they are not deserving of the same educational opportunities as all other students.
“Every child in New Hampshire and across the country has a right to equal opportunities at school and all students do better when they have access to resources that improve their mental, emotional, and physical health,” said Henry Klementowicz, Deputy Legal Director at ACLU of NH.
Despite protests and legal issues, Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, said that each of Trump’s executive orders will hold up in court because every action of his administration is completely lawful.
“Any legal challenge against it is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the will of the American people, who overwhelming elected President Trump to secure the border, revitalize the economy, and restore common-sense policies,” Fields said, according to Reuters.
Donald Trump’s ‘No Men in Women’s Sports Executive Order,’ signed on 5 February, has already resulted in policy changes across sports organisations. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced just a day after the mandate that their policy is now aligned with the mandate: only female-born athletes will be allowed to compete in the women’s category.
“It’s heartbreaking to have the federal government so aggressively go after our daughter,” Amy Manzelli and Chad Turmelle, Iris’s parents, told GLAD Law. “Iris is looking forward to playing spring sports and being part of a team. We just want her to be able to attend school and get the most out of her education—on and off the court.”
15-year-old Iris hopes to try out for tennis this spring. Parker, who is 16, plays on her high school football team and said she had a great season last fall and wants to keep playing the game she loves.
“We were so grateful and proud to watch Parker play soccer with her friends last fall, and to see the joy it brings her. Her father and I just want her to be happy, healthy, and know she belongs—the same things any parent wants for their child. It’s just not right for the federal government to come down so hard on a kid,” said Sara Tirrell, Parker’s mother.
