Civil rights groups in New Hampshire say they’re prepared to go to court to challenge laws that place new restrictions on trans students’ participation in sports, access to gender-affirming surgeries and classroom discussions of gender and sexual orientation.
Those laws, signed by Gov. Chris Sununu on Friday, ban trans girls from playing girls’ sports in middle and high school; prohibit some gender-affirming surgeries for people under 18; and require schools to notify parents before any instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation.
“We are hearing from affected families, and we are considering all options,” Chris Erchull, a staff attorney with the LGBTQ rights group GLAD, said during a virtual news conference Monday.
Devon Chaffee, the executive director of the ACLU’s New Hampshire chapter, argued the new policies could violate federal laws against sex discrimination. A federal appeals court recently sided with a trans athlete who challenged a similar ban in West Virginia.
“We condemn Governor Sununu’s signing of these bills, and are ready to stand with transgender and all LGBTQ+ Granite Staters and their families in the courtroom to fight the impacts of these laws,” Chaffee said.
In a statement Friday, Sununu said “charged political statements have muddled the conversation and distracted from the two primary factors that any parent must consider: safety and fairness for their children.”
Sununu said those factors were his main considerations in supporting bills he said would ensure “fairness and safety in women’s sports” and prevent children from getting “life altering, irreversible surgeries.”
The surgery bill prohibits only gender-affirming genital surgeries, also known as bottom surgeries, for minors. No New Hampshire hospital performs those procedures before age 18, according to reporting from The Keene Sentinel.
Also on Friday, Sununu vetoed a bill that would have allowed schools and businesses to bar trans people from bathrooms and other facilities that align with their gender identity. That bill would have partially rolled back a non-discrimination law he signed in 2018.
“In 2018, Republicans and Democrats passed legislation to prevent discrimination because as I said at the time, it is unacceptable and runs contrary to New Hampshire’s Live Free or Die Spirit,” Sununu said in the statement. “That still rings true today.”
Erchull said the laws Sununu signed are based on unfounded fears and are “scapegoating” trans girls.
“Telling transgender girls that they do not belong with other girls – that it is unfair or unsafe for them to be on the same team with their friends – makes a mockery out of fairness,” he said.
In recent years, Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire and around the country have put forward a wave of legislation restricting trans teenagers’ access to bathrooms, school sports and gender-affirming health care.
On Sunday, around 100 people gathered outside the Statehouse in Concord to protest Sununu’s decision. Attendees said bills like the ones he signed last week are creating a more hostile climate for LGBTQ youth in the state.
“It gives a direct message to the trans youth in New Hampshire and our surrounding states that this is not a welcoming place for them,” said Kamren Munz of Manchester.
Munz is a former middle school art teacher who now works in higher education. They left teaching after facing public pushback from some parents and the state education commissioner over how they discussed gender pronouns in the classroom.
They said they came to the rally in part to show younger trans people that they’re not alone.
“Trans kids, they just want to grow up to be adults and be happy again and live and play sports, like everyone else,” they said. “But they're definitely not alone. And the trans adults in their communities and our allies are working really hard for them to be able to have that.”
Archer Miller, an English teacher at Concord High, said they already see a lot of discrimination toward trans kids. They fear the passage of these laws will only make the problem worse.
“I worry that by Sununu signing these bills into law, it makes these people who do discriminate and have bias and spread hate feel like they have a legitimate platform,” they said.
Sara Tirrell’s teenage daughter, Parker, is trans and an avid soccer player. Parker has been practicing with her high school team on and off over the summer, Tirrell said, and it’s been heartbreaking to learn she won’t be able to play with them this season.
“I see her pulling back a little bit from that because at this point, she can't participate with them,” she said. “And so that's pretty painful.”
Tirrell said the family is now considering its options – everything from talking to lawyers to thinking about private schools in Massachusetts where Parker would be allowed to play.
