Male athletes dismiss lawsuit against NH women’s sports law, Trump executive orders protecting female athletes
Supreme Court decision upheld female athletes' rights, strengthening women's sports law. Male athletes in New Hampshire dismissed lawsuit challenging the state’s women’s sports law and Trump executive orders. The New Hampshire women’s sports law and the executive orders remain in effect. The dismissal follows the U.S. District Court’s ruling in Tirrell v. Edelblut.
3 months ago
Male athletes’ lawsuit challenging New Hampshire’s women’s‑sports law and two Trump‑issued executive orders was dismissed, leaving the state law and the federal orders protecting female athletes fully intact. 1
In 2024 New Hampshire enacted legislation that reserves athletic competition in women’s sports for female athletes, citing privacy, safety and equal opportunity concerns. 1
Two male high‑school students, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, sued to block the law, arguing it discriminated against them. 1
The plaintiffs also challenged two executive orders signed by former President Donald Trump—Defending Women from Gender Ideology and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government and Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports—which reinforce the same policy at the federal level. 1
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire initially issued a temporary injunction halting enforcement of the state law while the case proceeded. 1
The court later permitted Female Athletes United, a group of women and girls represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys, to intervene and defend both the state law and the Trump executive orders. 1
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that was described as a “sweeping victory for female athletes,” the district court dismissed the male students’ suit. 1
With the dismissal, New Hampshire’s women’s‑sports law and the two Trump executive orders remain in force, allowing the state and the federal government to continue enforcing policies that restrict male participation in women’s athletic competitions. 1
ADF senior counsel Jonathan Scruggs praised the result, stating that women and girls deserve privacy, safety and equal opportunities, and that the law and executive orders “recognize common sense and track Title IX.” 1
The decision marks the end of the litigation that had expanded the original challenge from the state law to the broader federal executive actions. 1
Do Catholic teachings support equal rights for female athletes?
Yes. Catholic social teaching as applied to sport supports equal rights and equal dignity for female athletes, grounded in the fact that every person—male and female—has the right to live with dignity and to develop their gifts, especially through culture and sport.
The Church’s Catholic vision begins with human dignity: each human being is created in God’s image and likeness and therefore has a right to be treated with respect and to develop in life. In the context of sport, the Church explicitly teaches that:
“Everyone has the same right to experience and be fulfilled in the multiple dimensions of culture and sport.”
It also states that discrimination is never permissible in sport on grounds including sex:
“Any form of discrimination because of… sex… must never be accepted in sport.”
So, Catholic teaching does not treat women’s athletics as optional, secondary, or less “legitimate” than men’s; rather, it treats female participation as a matter of justice owed to persons.
Catholic teaching distinguishes equality of rights/opportunities from uniformity. That is important, because it means Catholics can support fairness without insisting that men and women must always compete in the same events.
The Church explains:
“This equality of rights for every individual does not mean, however, uniformity or similarity… because it also means respect for the multiplicity and diversity of human life with respect to sex, age…”
It further notes that in many sports, men and women do not compete against each other, and that this can be consistent with respecting dignity and equal rights:
“It is understandable that… in most sports disciplines men and women do not compete against each other.”
And it frames sport itself as something that should “promote the equality of human beings.”
Bottom line: Catholic teaching supports equal rights for female athletes—e.g., equal dignity, equal freedom to participate, protection from discrimination—but it does not automatically require identical structures in every sport (such as identical categories for men and women).
Based on the Church’s principles for sport, equal rights for female athletes should include, at minimum:
Catholic teaching also explicitly observes that in some places girls and women are denied the right to participate, and it highlights that everyone benefits from increasing opportunities for all to participate in sport.
Catholic teaching holds both truths at once: (1) men and women are distinct, and (2) they have perfect equality as human persons. For example, the Church’s anthropology (as reflected in Catholic teaching) states that men and women are created with “perfect equality as human persons,” while also being distinct “in their respective beings as man and woman.”
That aligns well with sport: equal personhood requires equal rights and non-discrimination; biological and social differences can justify different categories or events while still demanding justice.
Catholic teaching supports equal rights for female athletes because it grounds sport in human dignity, demands the same rights for everyone in culture and sport, and rejects any discrimination because of sex. At the same time, Catholic teaching clarifies that equality of rights does not require identical arrangements for men and women in every sport discipline.