The families of two transgender girls in New Hampshire sued high school and state officials in federal court on Friday, seeking to block HB 1205 from going into effect. That state bill requires schools to assess students’ eligibility for sports teams based on their biological sex, rather than their gender identity.

In the complaint, the families allege that the bill violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by discriminating on the basis of transgender status. The families argue that New Hampshire lacks a rational basis for its bill, let alone an important state interest, because the bill “rests on stereotypes and misconceptions, and undermines rather than advances any alleged purpose.”

On the same day, the families moved for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, asking the court to block the bill before soccer practice starts on August 19. In the injunction motion, the families pointed to federal courts that have blocked similar laws from going into effect, such as in West Virginia. They also claimed that “there is no physiological or biological difference between the plaintiffs and other girls,” including their hormone levels, and they argued that the court should act now “to avoid the denial of a critical and unique educational program that cannot be repeated or replaced,” which they describe as “deeply scarring.”

Other states have similarly restricted transgender youth from participating in sports teams. The governors of both Ohio and Wisconsin vetoed such bills to stop them from being enacted, though the legislature in Ohio overrode that veto and still passed the bill. The US Supreme Court has yet to rule on the legality of laws that ban transgender youth from sports. But on Friday it did refuse to reinstate Title IX rules that expand protections of LGBTQ+ students.