Transgender athletes Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle have dismissed their lawsuit aimed at challenging New Hampshire's law that prohibits transgender athletes from participating in girls' sports. The dismissal came after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling on June 30, which upholds state laws mandating that student-athletes compete in sports teams corresponding to their biological sex at birth.
The lawsuit, initially filed in 2024, was later expanded to include the Trump administration as a defendant. The plaintiffs' legal team argued that an executive order signed by then-President Donald Trump and parts of another order restricting federal funds for programs promoting "gender ideology" constituted discrimination against transgender girls in violation of federal equal protection guarantees and Title IX.
In response to the original lawsuit, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire permitted female athletes, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys, to intervene to defend the state's law and the administration's executive orders. The ADF stated that the Supreme Court's ruling leaves no legal avenue for the teenagers to challenge the New Hampshire law.
Jonathan Scruggs, Senior Counsel and Vice President of Litigation Strategy at ADF, commented in a statement that women and girls deserve privacy, safety, and equal opportunities, which he believes cannot be achieved when males compete in women's sports. He added that President Trump's executive orders and New Hampshire's law align with common sense and Title IX, ensuring equal opportunities for women in athletics.
The Supreme Court's decisions in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, decided by a 6-3 vote, affirmed the legality of state laws requiring athletes to compete based on their sex assigned at birth. Despite this ruling, 23 states, including California, New York, and Massachusetts, do not have similar laws and some of these states have policies that protect transgender athletes in girls' sports.
Former NCAA All-American Riley Gaines has described efforts to challenge biological sex in sports as "insane" and "misogynistic," advocating for the rights of female athletes and fair competition. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has echoed these sentiments, highlighting the ongoing debate surrounding transgender participation in women's sports.