Two legal battles over transgender athletes competing in female sports are unfolding in a federal court in New Hampshire, making the state a critical one to watch as the topic has become a central part of a culture war raging across America. 

One of the lawsuits, Tirrell v. Edelblut, challenges the state’s recently-enacted “Fairness in Women’s in Sports Act,” which bans biological males — determined by the sex listed on a birth certificate — from competing in female-designated sports in grades 5-12.