Civil rights groups in New Hampshire say they are prepared to go to court to challenge a law that would impose new restrictions on transgender students’ ability to participate in sports, their right to gender reassignment surgery and classroom discussions of gender and sexual orientation.
The laws, signed by Gov. Chris Sununu on Friday, ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports in middle and high schools, ban some gender reassignment surgeries for those under 18 and require schools to notify parents before offering instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation.
“We are hearing from affected families and are exploring all options,” Chris Urchal, staff attorney for LGBTQ rights group GLAD, said during an online press conference on Monday.
Devon Chaffee, executive director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, argued that the new policy could violate federal laws banning sex discrimination. A federal appeals court recently sided with transgender athletes who challenged a similar ban in West Virginia.
“We condemn Governor Sununu for signing these bills into law and stand ready to stand in court alongside transgender people and all Granite Staters and their families to fight the impact of these laws,” Chafee said.
“Extreme political rhetoric confuses the conversation and distracts from two key factors that every parent must consider: the safety of their children and fairness,” Sununu said in a statement Friday.
Sununu said those factors were his main considerations in supporting a bill that would ensure “fairness and safety in girls’ sports” and prevent children from undergoing “life-changing, irreversible surgery.”
The surgery bill only bans gender reassignment surgery (also known as bottom surgery) on minors. The Keene Sentinel reported that New Hampshire hospitals do not perform such procedures on anyone under the age of 18.
A sign at a transgender rights rally in front of the state Capitol in Concord on Sunday, July 21.
Sununu also vetoed a bill on Friday that would have allowed schools and businesses to exclude transgender people from restrooms and other facilities that match their gender identity, a bill that would have partially undone an anti-discrimination law he signed in 2018.
“In 2018, Republicans and Democrats passed legislation banning discrimination because, as I said then, discrimination is unacceptable and runs counter to New Hampshire’s ‘live free or die’ ethos,” Gov. Sununu said in a statement. “That remains true today.”
Ertschul said the law signed by Governor Sununu is based on unfounded fears and makes transgender girls “scapegoats.”
“Telling trans girls that they shouldn’t be with other girls – that it’s unfair and unsafe for them to be on the same team as their friends – makes a mockery of fairness,” he said.
In recent years, Republican lawmakers in New Hampshire and across the country have introduced a series of bills that would restrict transgender youth’s access to bathrooms, school sports and gender-affirming health care.
About 100 people gathered outside the state Capitol in Concord on Sunday to protest Governor Sununu’s decision, saying bills like the one he signed last week create a more hostile atmosphere for LGBTQ youth in the state.
“This sends a direct message to transgender young people in New Hampshire and surrounding states that this is not a place where they are welcome,” said Camren Mantz of Manchester.
Crowds protested outside the state Capitol on Sunday, two days after Gov. Chris Sununu signed bills that would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports, restrict sex-reassignment surgery for minors and require parents to be notified before any classes about gender identity or sexual orientation.
Mantz is a former middle school art teacher who now works in higher education, and the couple left teaching after facing public backlash from some parents and the state education commissioner over how they discussed gender pronouns in the classroom.
They said they also attended the rally to show young transgender people that they are not alone.
“Trans kids just want to grow up and be happy, and live life and play sports like everyone else,” they say. “But they are never alone. Trans adults in their communities and our allies are working hard to make that happen for them.”
Archer Miller, an English teacher at Concord High School, said he already sees a lot of discrimination against transgender kids, and he worries that if these laws pass, it will only make the problem worse.
“We fear that Governor Sununu signing these bills into law will empower those who discriminate, bigot and spread hate to feel vindicated,” they said.
Sarah Tyrrell’s teenage daughter, Parker, is transgender and an avid soccer player. She said she was heartbroken when she found out she wouldn’t be able to play with her high school team this season after practicing on and off with the team over the summer.
“At the moment, she can’t join them, so it just seems like she’s kind of withdrawn from it a little bit,” she said. “And that’s very painful.”
Tyrrell said the family is now considering all of its options, from speaking with attorneys to considering private schools in Massachusetts where Parker could play.
