The New Hampshire Senate on Friday advanced bills that would ban biological boys from girls’ sports in all public schools including state-run colleges, and mandate teachers to disclose any information requested by parents, including questions about gender identity.
In an across-the-board 14–10 party-line vote on the legislation, the Republican majority Senate also approved a bill that would ban obscene material from school libraries and voted to study a proposal to establish a cause of action for any injuries suffered from any “gender-affirming care,” from puberty blockers to surgery, performed in the state.
The bill that drew the biggest debate was the mandatory disclosure of the “if asked, do tell” measure that Democrats likened to secret surveillance of students—specifically calling it dangerous to children who don’t want to be outed to their parents.
“Giving students the opportunity and safe space to explore their identities and potentially come out when they are ready is something we should be supporting not taking away,” said state Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka (D-Portsmouth), a married lesbian who shares two children with her wife. “Coming out should be solely the decision and the individual and not mandating that teachers must out their children to their parents.”
State Sen. Suzanne Prentiss (D-West Lebanon) argued that a mandatory disclosure law would also out children exploring alternatives to their family’s traditions, religions, and other beliefs.
“Under this bill, if a student is a Muslim family, and does not wear the hijab while they’re in school—would it be if the parents asked something the teacher would have to report; if a student came from a vegan family and wanted to try some cheese or some chocolate milk, a teacher would have to disclose that to the family if asked—if a student is an atheist family and wanted to ask about attending a Bible study meeting, the teacher would have to disclose this to the family.”
State Sen. Timothy Lang (R-Belknap), the main sponsor of the bill, said he found it shocking that anyone would oppose legislation calling on schools to be honest with parents. “Honestly, I’m shocked that the simple idea needs to be clarified in statute and has become a political lightning rod,” he said.
Many lawmakers argued that withholding information from parents was also preventing them from protecting their children from potential groomers at schools.
State Sen. Sharon Carson (R-Londonderry) added that schools also need to remember their role is to educate and have only a temporary relationship with students.
“Parents are forever,” she said.
Making comparisons to 400-year-old child abuse cases, state Sen. David Watters (D-Dover) spoke for nearly 30 minutes against the broader issue of parental rights in general—likening them to property rights and child enslavement —even warning they could be promoting what he called “a biblical injunction to honor thy father and mother.”
Mr. Watters also espoused similar comparisons on the bill that would make base eligibility to participate in gender-specific sports activities on a student’s biological sex at birth.
“Frankly, to me I don’t know why we seem more concerned about what’s in a student’s underwear than what’s in their stomachs, or why we reduce a student’s whole being to their genitals as if creating a stable biological boundary between what is called female and male will somehow control their mind and soul,” he said.
State Sen. President Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) said he didn’t know what anything Mr. Watters was talking about had to do with protecting the rights of female students from the physical advantage of male sports players.
He brought up a recent case in Massachusetts where a bearded transgender female high school basketball player injured three biological female players on the opposing team, including “ragdolling” one of them, he said, on a jump shot.
“By denying science, we’re discriminating against our daughters and our granddaughters, ” he said. “We’re undermining fairness and opportunity.”
Similarly divisive debates took place between Democrats and Republicans over a bill that would allow parents to file a complaint about books and other materials they find inappropriate at their children’s school libraries.
Democrats argued the bill could potentially interfere with a student’s right to “explore, imagine, and experiment” while Republicans argued the parents had the right and responsibility to question age-inappropriate school material.
Driver’s Licenses
A brief, spinoff debate about immigration broke out over a bill proposing New Hampshire not recognize driver’s licenses other states issued to non-U.S. citizens. Currently, there are at least 17 states that do so.The bill would classify the licenses as “illegal” in New Hampshire and make it a class B misdemeanor for a migrant to operate a motor vehicle in New Hampshire based on one.
State Sen. Cindy Rosenwald (D-Nashua ) said the measure could potentially create driver profiling by law enforcement and also negatively impact the state’s $2.3 billion tourism industry by discouraging people from coming to New Hampshire.
“We want people to come here from other states, stay in hotels, eat in our restaurants, buy gas, alcohol and cigarettes,” she said.
State Sen. Bill Gannon (R-Sandown), the bill’s primary sponsor, said he believes the bill will have just the opposite effect.
“I think more visitors are going to want to come to New Hampshire if they know we’re a safe state, that we have tried to do what we can to vet illegal immigrants coming here,” he said.
Some of the bills passed by the Senate on Friday are duplicate bills already passed by the New Hampshire House. The House will debate the Senate versions before they are put to a final vote and sent to Gov. Chris Sununu for signing.
