The New Hampshire Senate approved two anti-LGBTQ+ bills last Friday, one to ban transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams, the other requiring teachers to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents. Both bills move next to the House.
Reports the Boston Globe:
Both bills cleared the Republican-controlled Senate on party line votes.
Senate Bill 341 passed in a 13 to 10 vote. It would require educators to answer parents’ questions about their child within 10 days. It includes an exception if an educator believes revealing the information would put the child at “imminent risk of physical harm, abuse, or neglect.” In that case, the educator has to file a report with the state’s Dept. of Health and Human Services. …
The Senate’s approval comes after the House narrowly approved a related bill pertaining to parents’ rights and school disclosure policies.
The Senate also passed a bill that would ban transgender girls from female sports teams in a 14 to 10 party line vote.
Senate Bill 375 requires sports teams to be either male, female, or coed, and bars transgender girls from female sports teams and locker rooms. It includes school sports starting in 6th grade through college and does not cover intramural or club sports. It requires athletes to prove their biological sex at birth with a birth certificate.
SB 375 is broader than the House’s version of a similar ban, HB 1205, which did not include college sports or locker rooms. The House narrowly passed the ban in a 189 to 182 vote in late March.
Democrats argued Friday banning transgender girls is discriminatory – and they say it will further harm children who are already marginalized and at an increased risk for depression, homelessness, and suicide.
Read the complete Boston Globe story here.
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