New Hampshire athletes are speaking out against a recently passed Senate bill that would organize middle school through high school sports by gender at birth. Parker Tyrrell, 15, plays defense for Pemi Baker Soccer Club in Plymouth. Tyrrell said he has been playing sports since he was 4 years old and said, “I've used sports to connect with people. It's what I spend most of my time doing and I love it.” . He passed a bill that organized school sports from middle school to high school by gender at birth. The bill would ban transgender girls like Tyrrell from playing on women's sports teams. “Honestly, it's a nightmare because soccer is such a big part of my life,” Tyrrell said. The bill will be submitted to Governor Chris Sununu. “Forcing female students to compete against biological males is unfair and unsafe, and biological females are uncomfortable with sharing playing fields and locker rooms with biological males. “It's about safety and it's about fairness for all athletes.'' Sen. Tim Lang said, “It's about safety and it's about fairness for all athletes.'' said. “I think we should follow the example of independent college sports programs and do the same thing at New Hampshire.” But Tyrrell said he just wants to play for the team he loves. “I don't think it's a matter of people thinking it's a bad thing, it's just that they don't understand it and it's scary. I'm not a threat to anyone on the team. 'On the field, I'm just trying to play the game for fun,'' Tyrrell said.
New Hampshire athletes are speaking out against a recently passed Senate bill that would organize middle school through high school sports by gender at birth.
Parker Tyrrell, 15, plays defense for Pemi Baker Soccer Club in Plymouth. She said she has been playing games since she was 4 years old.
“I've used sports to connect with people. That's what I spend most of my time doing and I love this sport,” Tyrrell said.
The state Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would organize middle school through high school sports by gender at birth. The bill would ban transgender girls like Tyrrell from playing on women's sports teams.
“It's been a nightmare to be honest because soccer is a big part of my life,” Tyrrell said.
The bill is on Gov. Chris Sununu's desk, and some New Hampshire Republicans have said they support it due to safety concerns.
Sen. Tim Lang said, “Forcing girls to compete with biological men is unfair and unsafe. And biological girls are forced to share fields and locker rooms with biological men.” “They feel uncomfortable doing so and are forced to give up playing sports altogether.”
“It's common sense. It's safe and it's fair to all athletes,” Sen. Daniel Inniss said. “I think we should follow the example of independent college athletic programs and do the same in New Hampshire.”
But Tyrrell said he just wants to play for the team he loves.
“I don't think it's a matter of people thinking it's a bad thing. They just don't understand it and that's scary. I'm not a threat to anyone on the field. I'm not a threat to anyone on the field. I’m just trying to play the game for fun,” Tyrrell said.
