Tuesday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding state bans on transgender athletes will not end a federal lawsuit challenging New Hampshire's 2024 law.
Senior attorney Chris Erchull of GLAD Law, which joined the ACLU of New Hampshire in suing to overturn the state law, said their lawsuit makes different legal arguments.
“In our case, the judge found that the Legislature intentionally discriminated against transgender people and that factual record is different from what the Supreme Court was addressing,” Erchull said. “And, so that gives us a different way to continue arguing that the law is unconstitutional.”
New Hampshire’s law bars transgender girls in grades 5 to 12 from playing on girl’s sports teams.
The families of two teenage transgender girls challenged the law in federal court, arguing the ban violated sex-based discrimination protections. A federal judge temporarily blocked the ban from taking effect – but only for those two athletes.
Erchull said the Supreme Court decision will make the litigation against New Hampshire's law more difficult because it resolved some of the same legal arguments. The court, however, did not address a key argument in New Hampshire’s case, Erchull said.
The legislative history behind New Hampshire’s law shows that lawmakers intended to exclude transgender people from opportunities in education, Erchull said. “That makes it a different legal claim than what we see in the two cases the Supreme Court decided today,” he said.
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office released a statement Tuesday saying that they were “pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision,” and that they were evaluating next steps in the litigation.
“We remain confident in the State’s position and will continue to vigorously defend HB 1205.”
Gov. Kelly Ayotte also released a statement.
“It is unfair for biological males to compete in women’s sports,” she said. “As the mom of a daughter who competed in varsity sports in high school, I am pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision today that protects women’s sports and paves the way to enforce our law in New Hampshire prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports.”
The New Hampshire court case has been on hold since August pending the outcome of the cases before the Supreme Court. It is unclear when proceedings will resume.
