Headlines from the Granite State
Parenting rights bill signed into law
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed into law a bill that expands access for adoption, notably for children of LGBTQ parents.
According to GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), the new law (HB 1162) ensures that unmarried parents can adopt children. For LGBTQ parents, it means they can confirm their parentage through adoption and that kids born through assisted reproduction can have their parental relationships secured through a court judgment of parentage.
GLAD worked with the ACLU of New Hampshire and State Rep. Ed Butler — a champion of LGBTQ legislation in the Granite State, notes GLAD — to move the bill through a legislative session made more challenging due to COVID-19.
“We appreciate so much the hard work of Rep. Butler to ensure this bill, which is so important to children and families, was still prioritized despite the difficulties of the pandemic,” said attorney Chrissy Hanisco, who also worked with the team to carry the bill into law.
“Parentage laws across the country are still catching up to the realities of how families are formed today,” said GLAD Senior Staff Attorney Polly Crozier. “More and more states, including nearby Rhode Island, which just this week enacted comprehensive parentage reform, are recognizing the need to provide more fair and equal access to parentage. With HB 1162 now signed into law, New Hampshire fills some key remaining holes in protections for children and families in the state.”
LPAC, EmILY’s List endorse Perkins Kwoka
If elected in November, Rebecca Perkins Kwoka would become the first openly LGBTQ woman to serve in the Granite State senate.
In late July, she received endorsements from the national political action committees LPAC and EMILY’s List.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to receive these endorsements,” Perkins Kwoka said in a press release. “The work these organizations do to build the political power of women and LGBTQ people knows no bounds, and I am so excited to be a part of the amazing networks these organizations have built.”
Perkins Kwoka would represent the district encompassing Durham, Lee, Madbury, Newfields, Newington, Newmarket and Portsmouth.
LGBTQiA military vets group
In late June, US Congressman Chris Pappas held a roundtable with CEO Eric Golnick and staff of the Manchester-based Veteran and First Responder Healthcare staff to discuss a new support group for LGBTQIA military veterans and first responders.
“For too long LGBTQ+ veterans haven’t had services tailored to meet their needs,” Pappas said. “LGBTQ+ veterans and first responders face unique challenges in their work, and Eric and his team at VFR Healthcare are helping to create a solution for that. I was glad to learn more about how this program is helping Granite Staters and about VFR Healthcare’s plans to expand this program nationally.”
“This is something we’ve been wanting to do for years,” said Golnick, himself an LGBTQ navy vet. “What we wanted to do in partnership with [the U.S. Veterans’ Administration] is create a group that is a safe environment where folks can feel vulnerable and in a safe place that is outside of normal therapy with folks who have had a shared experience.”
Congressman Pappas is up for reelection on November 3.
More: vfrhealthcare.com
Rural Pride goes virtual
Pride celebrations everywhere—from the big urban centers to rural communities—are proving the spirit of the community prevails despite the pandemic by taking full advantage of the Internet’s ability to connect.
Take Rural Pride in Claremont, as Matt Moonshian, founder of Rural Outright—which organized the festivities, gone virtual in this, its third year—explained to New Hampshire Public Radio.
“You know for a lot of folks who come to Rural Pride, it might be the only time of year that they get connected with, you know, a company that has binders if they’re trans,” Moonshian said. “Or it might be the only time they get to see a drag queen out in public. Or it might be the only time that they get to talk to someone about affirmative sex ed.”
The festival took place in late June and included a virtual flag-raising of the Progress Pride flag “just over the state border in Vermont,” plus two days of festivities, including a livestream variety show with “storytelling, makeup tutorials and a Queer Q&A session with LGBT leaders from across the state,” according to NHPR.
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