Boy can continue playing on girls' soccer team in New Hampshire after judge temporarily blocks new state law

A New Hampshire boy claiming to be a girl will be allowed to continue playing on a girls' soccer team after a federal judge granted an emergency request to block a new state law in his case for the time being.

On Sunday, the Fairness in Women's Sports Act went into effect in New Hampshire after Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed it last month. The law prevents males in 5th through 12th grade from participating on sports teams designated for females only.

Under FWSA, New Hampshire parents can sue a school district that allows boys to play on girls' teams, the New Hampshire Bulletin reported.

'It takes a lot of nerve for a judge to block this good and just law in the immediate aftermath of SCOTUS striking the regime's malfeasance with Title IX on this same issue.'

On Monday, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty, an Obama appointee, issued a temporary block in the case of a 15-year-old boy attending Plymouth Regional High School. Blaze News is not naming the boy and will refer to him only as P.T.

GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire sued on behalf of P.T. and a 14-year-old boy in the Pemi-Baker Regional School District, claiming that FWSA violated Title IX and constitutional equal protections.

Plaintiffs requested a "temporary restraining order" of the law in P.T.'s case since he currently plays on the girls' soccer team at Plymouth Regional and had practice on Monday night. They claimed missing practice would have a "permanent, stigmatizing impact" on him.

They further argued that P.T. and the 14-year-old plaintiff had no physical advantage over biologically female competitors since they have been taking puberty blockers to stunt their male development.

"They’re not going to be any faster or any stronger than typical girls," Chris Erchull, an attorney for GLAD, said in court.

Michael DeGrandis, an attorney for the state, did not contest that claim about physical advantage and even conceded that missing soccer practice would be "stressful and straining" for P.T. However, DeGrandis insisted that such stress and strain should not mean the law should not apply in P.T.'s case.

"Does that rise to the level of irreparable harm?" DeGrandis asked.

Judge McCafferty apparently believes it does. She granted the emergency restraining order and indicated that plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their lawsuit.

McCafferty further claimed that P.T. has "no physiological advantage" over his female counterparts on the athletic field because of the puberty blockers he has been taking. She insisted this was an "uncontested reality" and not a matter of personal opinion.

McCafferty's ruling applies only to P.T. since the 14-year-old plaintiff is not planning to participate in girls' sports until the winter.

Both sides of the lawsuit now must schedule a hearing to consider a temporary block of the FWSA for all of New Hampshire while the litigation process continues through the court system. That hearing is expected in the next few weeks.

"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," Erchull stated after the ruling.

Not everyone in the state is cheering, however. Republican State Rep. Mike Belcher described the whole issue as "absurd" and argued that McCafferty's ruling not only overrides state law but a recent Supreme Court decision to allow states to ban men in women's spaces while Title IX cases continue.

"It takes a lot of nerve for a judge to block this good and just law in the immediate aftermath of SCOTUS striking the regime's malfeasance with Title IX on this same issue," Belcher told Blaze News.

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