New Hampshire
Judge allows transgender New Hampshire girl to play soccer as lawsuit challenges new law
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge temporarily cleared the way Monday for a transgender girl to play soccer for her high school team while she and another student challenge a New Hampshire ban.
The families of Parker Tirrell, 15, and Iris Turmelle, 14, filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to overturn the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” that Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law last month. While Turmelle doesn’t plan to play sports until December, Tirrell sought an emergency order allowing her to start soccer practice Monday evening.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty granted the request with just hours to spare, finding that Tirrell had demonstrated likely success on the merits of the case. The two sides now have 14 days to schedule a hearing on the plaintiffs’ broader motion for a preliminary order blocking the state from enforcing the law while the case proceeds.
The lawsuit said the law 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 judge questioned how the law, as applied to Tirrell, would protect girls from unfair competition given that the state isn’t contesting evidence that she has no physiological advantage after taking puberty-blocking medication to prevent bodily changes such as muscle development. McCafferty also found Tirrell had proven that she would suffer irreparable harm without it, another criteria for emergency relief.
Michael DeGrandis, an attorney for the state, argued that missing soccer practice, while “stressful,” didn’t meet that standard, but the girls’ lawyer disagreed, saying it would have a “permanent, stigmatizing impact.”
“We are very happy with the judge’s order. It is also what we expected, because we know that this law is unfair and violates the rights of transgender girls of New Hampshire,” Chris Erchull, an attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, said after the hearing.
The rights of transgender people — and especially young people — have become a major political battleground in recent years as trans visibility has increased. Most Republican-controlled states have banned gender-affirming health care for transgender minors, and several have adopted policies limiting which school bathrooms trans people can use and barring trans girls from some sports competitions.
Snow is giving way to mud after temperatures peaked into the 60s and 70s across the state over the past week, and experts are paying attention to how the snowmelt will affect flood risk and the state’s long-running drought.
While this year may have felt like a classic New England winter, it was the eighth driest December through February since record keeping began in the late 19th century, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
That means there’s not much hope that melting snow will alleviate the drought that’s covering 80% of New Hampshire.
Conditions have been essentially “locked in place” since winter began and the ground froze, said Ted Diers, who leads the water division at the state Department of Environmental Services.
“Any snow that falls is on top of the ground, it’s not soaking in,” he said.
The state’s water debt is so big that even if snow penetrated soils during the winter or now as it melts, it isn’t enough to resolve the drought outright.
“The water that’s stored in that snowpack is only a couple inches, and we have deficits of a foot to a foot and a half that have carried over from the summer drought,” said Sarah Jamison, a senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, Maine.
Since surface water levels are low across the state, the snow melt will first fill up ponds and wetlands before it reaches rivers and creates problems.
“Overall flood risk for the state is actually below normal, because the drought conditions just seem to be the more dominant factor,” Jamison said. “It’s going to take a heck of a lot more water to raise the river up to flood stage than it would otherwise normally need,” she said.
But even with low water levels, ice jams could still pose a problem this mud season. When ice melts, it causes blockages on rivers and they can overflow rapidly. Most rivers in New Hampshire have enough ice to create a risk, according to Jamison.
“Ice is the ‘it’ factor. It’s the wild card. It’s unpredictable,” she said. “Even with low-flow rivers like we have across the state, it doesn’t necessarily need that much water to cause flooding because it can become an instant ice jam.”
Experts say a slow and steady snow melt that can trickle into soil and replenish groundwater would keep flood risk low and help improve drought conditions.
Too much rain too fast on top of the snowmelt could create a flooding event but fail to fix the drought, because a lot of the water would end up as run-off.
Diers, with the state’s environmental services department, said a steady period of consistent rain over several weeks would replenish aquifers and wetlands.
While NOAA is forecasting the state’s drought will continue through May, Diers said, weather can be hard to predict this far out.
And the predictions are getting tricker to make as climate change increases the variability in weather, said Mary Stampone, New Hampshire’s climatologist .
“We’re also seeing…a lot of ups and downs,” she said. “And so the transition seasons like fall and spring are where we can get a lot of that.”
New Hampshire springs are seeing earlier and earlier warm days, followed by late-season cold snaps. This can put a strain on local ecosystems, which rely on snow melt as a crucial water source, especially during growing seasons.
Diers said it’s important for people to be prepared and be thoughtful about their water consumption as we approach warmer months.
“It’s several months away until the really high water use season occurs,” Diers said. “Now is the time to reassess your water use and figure out ways that you could use less.”
Republicans in the New Hampshire House have passed a bill to require local voters to consider capping school property taxes every two years. The proposal, which cleared the House along near party lines Wednesday, is the latest in a series of efforts by Republican leaders to curb growth in local school spending.
Under the bill, voters across New Hampshire would weigh in at every November election on whether to block increases in school spending by capping local tax increases and SAU administrative spending.
Before the House adopted the plan, its lead sponsor, Weare Republican Rep. Ross Berry, argued that the more people vote on a tax cap, the better local spending decisions would reflect the will of people.
“The ultimate form of local control is allowing the most voters to opine on the issue,” Berry said.
But critics of the proposal, including Londonderry Republican Rep. Kristine Perez, said the policy’s bottom line objective is less about maximizing voters’ participation than reducing school distinct spending, regardless of local circumstances.
“Putting a cap on the school portion of property taxes is just another way of saying ‘cutting school budgets,’ ” Perez said.
GOP leaders in the House have for the past few years pushed policies aimed at limiting local local property tax increases by giving voters new tools to curb government spending. But voters have largely rejected these.
After the vote, House Majority Leader Jason Osbornse said this policy will be different.
“Today we delivered. If school boards want to jack up your property taxes, they’re going to have to convince voters at the ballot box, not outlast them in a gymnasium at midnight,” Osborne said.
But Megan Tuttle, who leads NH-NEA, the state’s largest teachers union, said this bill would only harm schools that are already under strain due to rising healthcare and special education costs.
“Instead of fixing our state’s broken public education funding system, these politicians are pushing yet another attempt to implement arbitrary school budget caps that will make it very difficult for school districts that are already underfunded,” she said.
The bill now moves the New Hampshire Senate. Republican leaders there have been leery of past efforts by the House to impose caps on local school spending.
Behind the headlines you read on our website, there’s a dedicated team of journalists working hard to bring you local news you can trust. On any given day, that can look like:
- • Reporters hustling to track down sources, get the facts and hold powerful officials accountable
- • Producers coordinating interviews with people who offer perspectives that go beyond soundbites
- • Editors carefully vetting our stories to make sure they’re accurate, fair and easy to follow
I believe that journalists, when we do our jobs well, can play a crucial role in connecting people and making communities stronger. But we can’t do this work without you.
Your donations, in any amount, can help keep independent journalism vibrant in New Hampshire — and accessible to everyone, no paywall required.
Sincerely,
Dan Barrick
News Director
Cubans living in South Florida to file lawsuit after finding themselves in a limbo with their immigration status
St. Patrick’s Day 2026: Legacy of the Irish spans Georgia and across the U.S.
Hawaii makes most of limited chance to sweep Mount Olive | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Wisconsin Badgers vs. Illinois Fighting Illini odds, picks and predictions
35 YEARS AGO: March 1991 ice storm
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Video: F.B.I. Investigating Synagogue Attack as ‘Targeted Act of Violence’
Sen Schmitt reups push for expanding denaturalization after recent acts of violence by naturalized citizens
Polish president vetoes law unlocking €44bn in EU defence loans
Middle East crisis live: rescue effort under way after US refuelling plane with five onboard crashes in Iraq
Video: How Trump’s Election Lie Could Impact 2026 Midterms
-
Detroit, MI7 days agoU.S. Postal Service could run out of money within a year
-
Miami, FL1 week agoCity of Miami celebrates reopening of Flagler Street as part of beautification project
-
Pennsylvania1 week agoPa. man found guilty of raping teen girl who he took to Mexico
-
Sports1 week agoKeith Olbermann under fire for calling Lou Holtz a ‘scumbag’ after legendary coach’s death
-
Michigan4 days agoOperation BBQ Relief helping with Southwest Michigan tornado recovery
-
Oklahoma5 days agoOSSAA unveils Class 6A-2A basketball state tournament brackets, schedule
-
Southeast3 days ago‘90 Day Fiancé’ alum’s boyfriend on trial for attempted murder over wild ‘Boca Bash’ accusations
-
Virginia1 week agoGiants will hold 2026 training camp in West Virginia