By Cassandra Chabot-Granite State News Collaborative

The rights of New Hampshire’s transgender community have become a mostly partisan issue in this year’s election.

In July, Gov. Chris Sununu signed two bills and he vetoed another one, all affecting transgender youth. 

One of the bills he signed, House Bill 619, prevents trans minors from receiving transition-related surgery and bars physicians from referring patients for out-of-state procedures, although it doesn’t ban other kinds of gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy. It takes effect at the start of the new year. The other bill, HB 1205, which took effect before the school year started, requires students in the fifth through 12th grades to compete on school sports teams that match the gender marker on their birth certificates.

In signing the bills into law, Sununu said in a statement,“New Hampshire always takes a balanced approach, and HB 619 and 1205 reflect commonsense, bipartisan solutions that reflect the values of parents across our state. The vast majority of Granite Staters share in this approach — because it is fair, balanced, and void of political considerations. By enacting these measures, we continue to uphold the principles of safety, fairness, and common sense for all our citizens.”

The bill vetoed by Sununu was HB 396, which would have prohibited trans people from using bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identities.

In his veto message, Sununu said he opposed the bill because, “in some cases [it] seeks to solve problems that have not presented themselves in New Hampshire, and in doing so invites unnecessary discord.”

The bills reflect a move nationally, mainly by Republicans, to make gender in school sports and gender-affirming surgeries an issue in the national, state and local elections. And that poses significant problems for trans youth, said Harvey Feldman, a licensed clinician and co-founder of the Gender Diverse Care Coalition of New Hampshire.

“I think for trans youth, there’s really everything on the line,” said Feldman.“Trans youth and their families are really being sent the message that you can’t seek out your own care.” 

Feldman, a member of the trans community, began the GDCC in 2021 with two other practitioners. The team aimed to create a network of providers who specialize in gender-affirming procedures, with the hopes that these practices could become more easily accessible. Since then, GDCC’s website has become a place of resource for the LGBTQIA community.

But, he said, it’s not just trans youth that should be paying attention to the upcoming election. In fact, he said, the bills and reasoning behind them should resonate with everyone. He likened HB 619, which bans certain types of gender-affirming care, to other issues surrounding bodily autonomy. “I think the issues around abortion and reproductive rights in this country are very similar to what trans people are up against as well – this idea of who gets to make decisions about their own bodies,” he said.

Susan Stearns, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in New Hampshire (NAMINH), said the national NAMI organization, which usually only takes stands on national issues, has issued positions on state and local legislation like this year’s bills in New Hampshire. She said that the organization felt that the issues have become widespread, and it wanted to inform people about the impact the laws may have on mental health.

According to Stearns, a recent article in the science journal Nature, discusses findings that suggest an increase in suicide attempts among trans youth living in states where similar laws to New Hampshire’s have passed.

“We all are less well off when discrimination is actually considered acceptable. It jeopardizes everyone,” she said.

That is why, she said, that Granite Staters should be engaged in this election and others to come.

“One of the wonderful things about living in New Hampshire is that it’s really easy to interact with folks who are running for office, and even once they’ve been elected,” she said. Because New Hampshire’s legislature is the biggest of its kind in the country, it’s also one of the most accessible, she said. “Even if you didn’t vote for that person, they’re now your legislator, and they work for you.”

She noted that while the high-profile governor’s race will generate most interest among the state races, the legislative races are just as important.  “In reality, we can talk about which bills the governor signs or doesn’t, but he doesn’t get a choice as to which ones make it to his desk,” said Stearns.