The organization that governs sports for New Hampshire public schools told districts they must comply with a recent executive order from President Trump forbidding transgender girls from playing on girls sports’ teams.
Prior to the change, the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association’s eligibility rules had deferred to athletes and their districts on the matter.
“The NHIAA has concluded that it would be fundamentally unjust and contrary to applicable State and Federal Law to preclude a student from participation on a gender specific sports team that is consistent with the public gender identity of that student for all other purposes,” the organization’s previous eligibility guidelines read.
But the association has now suspended that rule, citing the potential loss of federal funding for schools that violate the Trump administration’s prohibition on transgender girls in girls’ sports.
“In light of these developments, the NHIAA has consulted with legal counsel, and determined that it would be prudent to further clarify the NHIAA’s requirements,” Executive Director Jefferey Collins wrote. Schools, Collins wrote, have a responsibility to comply with federal law.
It is unclear how the athletic association’s rule change will be received in the two school districts at the center of a federal lawsuit challenging a state law limiting the athletic participation of transgender girls. A judge has put the law on hold in the Pembroke School District and Pemi-Baker Regional School District, whose students are at the center of the case, while the case is pending.
In recent days, the NHIAA had not returned multiple messages from NHPR seeking comment on its interpretation of Trump’s mandate, including its guidance for the two districts named in the federal lawsuit.
Pembroke School District, Pemi-Baker Regional School District and the state were sued in August by two athletes who argued the state’s law banning transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams violated their constitutional and state guarantees of equal protection. The students and their families recently asked the court to expand their lawsuit to include Trump and top members of his administration.
The Kearsarge Regional School District, which had been allowing a transgender girl to play on the girls’ soccer team, told the Concord Monitor it has reversed its policy in light of Trump’s orders.
Officials at the two districts named in the federal lawsuit did not return messages Monday.
The NHIAA’s sports coordinator, Nate Chaput, said in an email Monday that the organization has not given Pembroke or Pemi-Baker specific guidance on navigating the federal court order and Trump’s mandate.
“The NHIAA has recommended that member schools work with legal counsel to understand their obligations under both state and federal law regarding this matter,” Chaput said in an email.
