Take Action by Tuesday, please sign in to oppose 3 harmful bills: 

• SB211 would limit schools in allowing transgender girls' participation in female sports

• HB712 would prohibit elective breast surgery

• HB377 would make it a class B felony to supply puberty blockers or hormone treatments to anyone under age 18
  

Bills like these, which aim to discriminate against and humiliate LGBTQ students, have absolutely no place in the Granite State. Details for taking action are provided below.

Recently, we have seen wave after wave of extreme measures, from the Trump administration, to strip transgender people of their right to safety, dignity, and autonomy. These hateful and dividing attacks have been taken up by NH's Republican legislators through many anti-transgender bills this legislative cycle.

• Despite their bill descriptions, these bills have nothing to do with sports or health care.

• These hateful bills are straight out of Project 2025 and the playbooks of authoritarian governments around the world.

• We cannot lose sight of the Republicans' true goals: to deflect people’s attention from real issues by creating hate, a class of "others," and to further an authoritarian, fascist agenda.

• This is a cultivated culture war against our LGBTQ+ family members, friends, and community members. It also serves as a distraction from real issues facing New Hampshire - budget shortfalls, cuts in services, underfunded public education exacerbated by an ever-increasing and expensive school voucher system, a shortage of affordable housing and childcare, etc. 

• By stoking fears about trans people, Republican legislators are not just denying trans, intersex, and nonbinary people their rights and freedoms, they are threatening the freedom of all people to be themselves without fear. We must step up as allies and speak up, to provide a critical line of defense against this threat, both nationally and here in the Granite State.

Supporting Our LGBTQ+ Community

• Transgender rights are human rights.

• LGBTQ+ Granite Staters are our family members, neighbors, coworkers, and friends. They deserve far better than to be the legislative scapegoat and punching bag for our state's lawmakers.

• LGBTQ+ students deserve to feel safe, supported, and be their authentic selves – period. We must make clear that their rights deserve to be upheld and protected.

• Cruel, discriminatory bills like these, which exclusively target LGBTQ+ people, have no place in New Hampshire. There are many other topics that lawmakers should prioritize that would truly benefit Granite Staters.

• Like all young people, when LGBTQ+ youth feel support from their family and community, they have much better mental health outcomes. In fact, LGBTQ+ young people who had access to affirming homes, schools, community events, and online spaces reported lower rates of attempting suicide compared to those who did not1.

• In a recent survey, nine out of ten LGBTQ+ young people said their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics2. Despite this, these bills in New Hampshire threaten the mental wellbeing of the Granite State's young people by specifically targeting LGBTQ+ youth and families.

• We must serve as allies and support those who are less safe, more vulnerable, and at greatest risk.

These bills would also have significant negative implications for all New Hampshire residents. They threaten healthcare access, parental rights, educational resources, and personal freedoms that New Hampshire citizens value. 

Government Overreach, Parental Rights, and Family Autonomy:

• These bills represent harmful government overreach that would affect all New Hampshire residents, not just transgender individuals. 

• These bills would deny parents the right to make informed medical decisions for their children.

• We cannot allow the government to interfere in personal healthcare decisions that should rightfully be made by patients, parents, and medical professionals. 

• Bills like these are the government denying Granite Staters bodily autonomy and creating barriers to care.

• These private, personal decisions deserve to be made by patients, parents, and medical professionals - not lawmakers in Concord.

• They contradict the values of limited government and family autonomy, and establish a dangerous precedent for government regulation of personal identity. 

Social, Economic and Legal Consequences:

• Each of these attacks are just one piece of the larger effort to erase trans people from public life and deny all people the freedom to be ourselves. 

• They create a chilling effect on self-expression for all students.

• Similar laws in other states have led to economic boycotts and lost business.

• If passed, these bills will result in lawsuits costing taxpayers' money. 

“Transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people deserve equitable treatment in school, athletics, corrections, and all other facets of public life. These pieces of legislation will move us backward from the progress New Hampshire has made in recognizing transgender people in nondiscrimination law. Transgender women are women, and trans girls are girls. Like all women and girls, they deserve to be treated fairly in all aspects of their lives". - Devan Quinn, Director of Policy at the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation

Thank you to ACLU-NH and New Futures for talking points.

OPPOSE SB211

OPPOSE SB211, relative to biological sex in student athletics. This bill requires school sports teams to be expressly designated as male, female, or coed. It denies transgender students the opportunity to participate on sports teams that align with their gender identity, and creates a cause of action for violations of these requirements. SB211 would apply to students from 6th grade through college. These restrictions would apply to “any interscholastic, intercollegiate, athletic team, sport, or athletic event that is sponsored or sanctioned by a school, school district, or organization under the control of the state board of education, or an institution of higher education under either the university system or the community college system.” 

Act by Tuesday:
1. Sign into the House Remote Testimony tool to voice your opposition.
2. Enter your personal information.
3. Select:

• Wednesday, April 23rd on the calendar

• House Education Policy and Administration

• 10:00 a.m. - SB211

• I am a member of the public.

• I am representing myself.

4. Click: "I oppose this bill", then hit the submit button at the bottom of the form. Adding remote testimony is suggested. It will help make your case. 

Extra Credit: Please email the members of the House Education Policy committee. Visit this link and copy and paste the email addresses for the committee members on lines 79-96.

NOTE: When using talking points in adding written testimony, please take an extra minute or two to put your testimony into your own words rather than copying and pasting. There are many legislators that will discount written testimony if they see it is exactly the same as that received by others.

Talking Points for SB211:

• According to the ACLU-NH, SB211 would violate longstanding Title IX protections by banning trans athletes from participating in athletics in colleges and universities in New Hampshire. This would lead to costly lawsuits at taxpayer expense.

• This bill addresses a "problem" that doesn't exist in New Hampshire, as it affects so few students. It is driven by national culture wars from Republicans. 

• This bill would create a "cause of action" against schools that allow transgender participation. Athletic programs would face disruption and potential lawsuits, diverting educational resources to compliance and legal defense.

• School environments would become more divisive and less supportive.

• A bill of this nature could require invasive verification for any student whose appearance doesn't fit societal gender stereotypes.

• The NH Interscholastic Athletic Association already has effective policies in place.

OPPOSE HB712-FN

OPPOSE HB712-FN, limiting breast surgeries for minors. This bill limits breast surgeries for minors and provides a private right of action against the surgeon for violation of the statute.

Act by Tuesday:
1. Sign into the Senate Remote Sign-In Sheet to voice your opposition.
2. Select:

• Wednesday, April 23rd on the calendar

• Senate Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs

• 9:30 a.m. - HB712

• I am a member of the public.

• I am representing myself

• I oppose this bill

• Hit the continue button

3. Enter your personal information and hit the continue button. 
4. Review your information, click the checkbox, and submit.  

Extra Step! Please email the members of the Senate Health, Human Service and Elderly Affairs committee by copying and pasting the email addresses below into your email. Tell them to oppose HB712!
david.rochefort@gc.nh.gov, Kevin.Avard@gc.nh.gov, Regina.Birdsell@gc.nh.gov, Suzanne.Prentiss@gc.nh.gov, pat.long@gc.nh.gov, sophie.walsh@gc.nh.gov

Talking Points for HB712:

• These bills constitute government interference in personal and medical decisions, and establish a dangerous precedent. They would ban healthcare options for transgender adolescents, cruelly cutting off access to life-affirming, medically necessary healthcare for young transgender people.

• They take important decisions away from parents regarding their children's healthcare and activities.

• HB712 limits medically necessary breast surgeries for people under 18 and could restrict access to breast reduction surgeries needed for medical reasons like severe back pain.

• These bills create legal liability for physicians. 

• These bills replace medical expertise with political judgment, and interfere with established medical protocols. The procedures and medication that would be banned is widely recognized as the only evidence-based approach to addressing the physical, mental, and emotional needs of transgender people. Doctors and medical organizations have been providing safe gender-affirming care to transgender youth for decades. Major medical associations oppose these types of restrictions.

• Such laws could drive medical professionals out of New Hampshire, reducing healthcare access for everyone.

• Banning this care puts transgender youth in our communities at increased risk of depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. 

OPPOSE HB377-FN

OPPOSE HB377-FN, relative to health care professionals administering hormone treatments and puberty blockers. This bill prohibits the performance of a medical procedure or the prescription or issuance of medication, upon or to a minor child, that is intended to alter the minor child's gender or delay puberty. HB377 makes providing certain medications a Class B felony. It bans medications used safely for multiple medical purposes and criminalizes healthcare providers for providing care.

Act by Tuesday:
1. Sign into the Senate Remote Sign-In Sheet to voice your opposition.
2. Select:

• Wednesday, April 23rd on the calendar

• Senate Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs

• 9:45 a.m. - HB377

• I am a member of the public.

• I am representing myself

• I oppose this bill

• Hit the continue button

3. Enter your personal information and hit the continue button. 
4. Review your information, click the checkbox, and submit.  

Extra Step! Please email the members of the Senate Health, Human Service and Elderly Affairs committee by copying and pasting the email addresses below into your email. Tell them to oppose HB377!
david.rochefort@gc.nh.gov, Kevin.Avard@gc.nh.gov, Regina.Birdsell@gc.nh.gov, Suzanne.Prentiss@gc.nh.gov, pat.long@gc.nh.gov, sophie.walsh@gc.nh.gov

Talking Points for HB377:

• These bills constitute government interference in personal and medical decisions, and establish a dangerous precedent. They would ban healthcare options for transgender adolescents, cruelly cutting off access to life-affirming, medically necessary healthcare for young transgender people.

• They take important decisions away from parents regarding their children's healthcare and activities.

• HB712 limits medically necessary breast surgeries for people under 18 and could restrict access to breast reduction surgeries needed for medical reasons like severe back pain.

• These bills create legal liability for physicians. 

• These bills replace medical expertise with political judgment, and interfere with established medical protocols. The procedures and medication that would be banned is widely recognized as the only evidence-based approach to addressing the physical, mental, and emotional needs of transgender people. Doctors and medical organizations have been providing safe gender-affirming care to transgender youth for decades. Major medical associations oppose these types of restrictions.

• Such laws could drive medical professionals out of New Hampshire, reducing healthcare access for everyone.

• Banning this care puts transgender youth in our communities at increased risk of depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. 

You may watch House hearings live or recorded here. 
You may watch Senate hearings live or recorded here. 

Info Sourced from Hillsborough County Democratic Committee