Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire signed three significant bills into law on Friday, introducing strict new measures that affect transgender youth.
The legislation bans gender-affirming surgeries for minors, prohibits transgender athletes from participating in sports teams that match their gender identity, and allows parents to exclude their children from educational content on LGBTQ+ topics.
The most contentious of these measures prohibits physicians from performing gender-affirming surgeries, specifically genital reassignment procedures, on individuals under the age of 18.
This decision aligns New Hampshire with a growing number of places worldwide that have adopted more cautious approaches to transgender health care for minors. Countries like Sweden, Norway, France, and the United Kingdom have similarly paused such medical interventions for this age group, reflecting concerns about the irreversible nature of these surgeries.
Governor Sununu’s office stated that the law aims to “protect the health and safety of New Hampshire’s children” and highlighted that it received bipartisan support.
Despite these surgeries being relatively rare and generally not recommended for minors by leading health organizations such as the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the Endocrine Society, the law has sparked considerable debate.
In addition to medical restrictions, the newly signed laws will significantly affect the participation of transgender students in school sports.
Under the new regulations, all sports teams for grades 5 through 12 will be designated explicitly for “males, men, or boys,” “females, women, or girls,” or “coed or mixed.”
This law mandates that students must present their birth certificate at the time of registration for sports teams to confirm their sex at birth, a move that Governor Sununu claims will “ensure fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance.”
Moreover, another bill signed by Sununu requires schools to notify parents two weeks in advance of any instruction on LGBTQ+ topics, allowing them the option to withdraw their children from such lessons.
This legislative move reflects a growing trend among GOP states to increase parental oversight over educational content.
In a related but contrasting action, Governor Sununu vetoed a bill that would have permitted businesses to segregate bathrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex.
This veto was notable as it preserved some of the anti-discrimination protections Sununu endorsed in 2018.
In his statement, the governor expressed concerns that the proposed bill sought to address issues “that have not presented themselves in New Hampshire,” potentially leading to “unnecessary discord.”
The suite of bills has met with sharp criticism from State Democrats and LGBTQ+ advocates, who argue that such laws discriminate against transgender individuals.
New Hampshire Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy condemned the legislation, stating, “Our transgender community members are not a threat, they are the threatened,” and vowed continued support for the affected community.
As these laws prepare to take effect, with the sports team designation beginning on August 19 and the surgical ban in January, the state braces for potential legal challenges.