Advocacy You Can Do Today

VETO DAY

On August 19th, the NH State Legislature will hold Veto Day, where the House and Senate have the opportunity to overthrow any of the Governor’s vetos by a 2/3 super majority vote. There are several bills on the docket:

SB268 - permitting classification of individuals based on biological sex under certain limited circumstances.

We defined SB268 as an Anti-Trans Bathroom Ban. This bill seeks to restrict access to “private spaces” on the basis of what the bill sponsor defines as “biological sex.” Retained from last year, this bill legalizes discrimination for bathrooms, locker rooms, sports, and prisons.  Biological sex is not defined, nor are enforcement mechanisms. 

❌❌❌This bill works in opposition to three of our policy platform pillars: affirming environments, economic safety and right to privacy. 

📜To see the current status of this bill, and all associated records, visit: https://603equality.org/news-updates/sb268

SB552 - permitting classification of individuals based on biological sex under certain limited circumstances.

We define SB552 as an anti-trans bathroom & sports ban and prison segregation bill. SB 552 is a multi-faceted bill that limits access for trans folks in public restrooms, in sports settings, and designates that “biological sex” must be the determining factor in prison placement. This bill sponsor defines “biological sex” like many of the other proposed bathroom and locker room bans this legislative season on a binary, despite the vast number of variations to biological sex that exist. This bill is another example of the state legislature attempting to police the movements of trans people in New Hampshire, despite two separate Governors vetoing three similar bills already. 

❌❌❌This bill works in opposition to three of our policy platform pillars: affirming environments, economic safety and right to privacy. 

📜To see the current status of this bill, and all associated records, visit: https://603equality.org/news-updates/sb552

HB1442 -  limiting the use of certain facilities on the basis of sex and redefining the term "gender identity."

We defined HB1442 as an Anti-Trans Bathroom Ban. This bill seeks to restrict access to “private spaces” on the basis of what the bill sponsor defines as “biological sex” like many of the other proposed bathroom and locker room bans this legislative season. One important thing to note about HB1442 is that it would criminally charges trans bathroom users with "willful trespass" for using a bathroom that doesn’t align with the sex designated on their birth certificate. (Note: an amendment removed the “willful trespass” language).Additionally, the bill sponsor also singled out trans women, and references the SRY gene as  a way to scientifically define sex to a binary, despite the vast number of variations to biological sex that exist. This bill is another example of the state legislature attempting to police the movements of trans people in New Hampshire, despite two separate Governors vetoing three similar bills already. The prime sponsor proposed a floor amendment that does nothing to address concerns brought forth in public testimony and committee hearings. 

❌❌❌This bill works in opposition to three of our policy platform pillars: affirming environments, economic safety and right to privacy. 

📜To see the current status of this bill, and all associated records, visit: https://603equality.org/news-updates/hb1442

SB434 - relative to regulation of public school materials.

We define SB434 as a school censorship bill and an anti-free speech bill. This bill would allow a single person within a school district to challenge items and have them removed for the entire district. Despite mechanisms already being in place for parents to prohibit their child from accessing content and materials that they deem inappropriate, this would empower a single person to remove materials for all students - effectively censoring materials district-wide. It’s important that we trust educators to build inclusive and thoughtful classrooms where students can critically engage with a variety of age-appropriate materials, and not create easy mechanisms for censorship. 

❌❌This bill works in opposition to two of our policy platform pillars: Affirming Environments and Economic Safety.

📜To see the current status of this bill, and all associated records, visit: https://603equality.org/news-updates/sb434

ELECTORAL WORK

The last of the anti-lgbtqia+ bills have passed through the Governor’s office, which means it’s time to focus on electoral work. Check out our Candidates page to see what we’re doing, and who we’re working with.