New Hampshire advances trans-exclusionary sports bill

New Hampshire legislators are advancing a bill that would bar transgender girls from competing in girls’ school sports.

The House of Representatives approved the bill Thursday by a vote of 189-182, the New Hampshire Bulletin reports. It now goes to the state’s Senate. If it becomes law, New Hampshire would be the first northeastern state with such a statute.

The legislation, House Bill 1205, would require students to provide schools with a birth certificate or adoption certificate to show the sex they were assigned at birth in order to participate in school sports. If the birth certificate does not include this information, the student must “provide other evidence,” the bill states.

It would apply to grades 5-12 in public schools and in private schools that compete with public schools in sports. Students who believe they’ve lost opportunities because their school didn’t comply with the law can sue.

The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association has adopted a trans-inclusive policy, but HB 1205 would supersede it. Republican Rep. Katy Paternel said the legislation is needed because cisgender girls may lose athletic opportunities if trans girls are allowed to compete with them.

“These girls work hard to train and practice only to have their dreams crushed by allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports,” she said, according to the Bulletin.

Democrats challenged the assumptions behind the bill. “This bill targets a small group of student athletes claiming there is a categorical advantage when there is not,” said Democratic Rep. Alexis Simpson.

Another Dem, Rep. Alissandra Murray, posted on X (formerly Twitter), “After watching bills like this be voted on week after week it’s hard not to despair. But rest assured, the fight is not over. We will stop these bills in the Senate, and if not, we will undo all this harm when Dems are in control next year. We will not let this stand.” Murray is one of three out trans legislators in New Hampshire.

The Senate, however, is likely to pass this bill or a similar one it’s already considering, The Hill reports. Both the Senate and House have Republican majorities, and Gov. Chris Sununu is a Republican as well.

Sununu recently claimed it’s dangerous to let trans girls compete alongside cisgender girls, but he said he’d have to see the final bill before deciding whether to sign it. “If it comes with too many other stipulations and too many restrictions that go far off field of what we’re talking about here, we could have an issue,” he said in an interview on TV station WMUR.

LGBTQ+ rights advocates have denounced the legislation. “The so-called ‘Live Free or Die’ State chose to exclude transgender girls from participating on girls’ sports teams, cruelly taking away opportunities to learn teamwork, improve mental health, and belong with other girls,” said a statement from Linda Jakows, founder of 603 Equality. “Now the N.H. State Senate must affirm clearly, as the N.H. Interscholastic Athletic Association has done since 2015, that all girls should be allowed to participate in girls’ sports, including transgender girls.”

Added Chris Erchull, an attorney at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders: “Transgender students want the chance to play school sports for the same reason other kids do: to be a part of a team where they feel like they belong. That’s what we want for all students, and it’s why our state and federal laws make clear that singling out transgender students for exclusion is wrong. Politicians’ ongoing, relentless targeting of transgender youth is sending an extremely harmful message not just to trans kids but to all kids. The Senate should vote to uphold New Hampshire’s bedrock values of freedom and fairness for all and reject this cruel and unnecessary bill.”

New Hampshire lawmakers are considering some other anti-trans bills as well. In January, the House passed a bill banning genital surgeries for trans minors — its original version would have banned all gender-affirming care for this population — even though medical professionals don’t recommend these surgeries for minors anyway, and New Hampshire health care providers say they aren’t performing them. It’s pending in the Senate.

The House also OK’d a bill that would let public and private institutions set trans-exclusionary policies for restroom use and participation in sports. It hasn’t come to a Senate vote.