Headlines from the Granite State
Pappas: ‘I’m in’
Congressman Chris Pappas officially announced his run to succeed three-term US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who will not seek reelection in 2026, according to a report from SeacoastOnline.
The openly gay Congressman, co-chair of the LGBTQ+ Congressional Equality Caucus and strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, is now serving his fourth term in Congress.
“I’m in,“ Pappas wrote on X with his new campaign video post. ”Today I’m announcing my campaign for U.S. Senate because New Hampshire needs a fighter who gets things done. Let’s do this.”
Currently, there is only one out LGBTQ+ US Senator, Tammy Baldwin if Wisconsin. Pappas could become the first out gay male Senator.
The right to play
Two high school students, Parker Tirrell and Iris Turmelle, along with their families, are challenging the Trump administration’s executive orders aimed at banning transgender girls and women from playing on school sports teams.
Tirrell, age 15, a soccer player, is a sophomore at Plymouth Regional. Turmelle, 14, is a ninth-grade tennis player who has also participated in track and field, and attends the public high school Pembroke Academy.
“I love playing soccer and we had a great season last fall,” Tirrell said in a statement. “I just want to go to school like other kids and keep playing the game I love.”
GLAD Law of Boston, the ACLU of New Hampshire and the Goodwin law firm are representing them.
“The systematic targeting of transgender people across American institutions is chilling, but targeting young people in schools, denying them support and essential opportunities during their most vulnerable years, is especially cruel,” GLAD Law attorney Chris Erchull told ESPN.
According to ESPN, GLAD Law and the ACLU have asked the judge to add Trump, the US Department of Justice, US Attorney General Pam Bondi, the US Department of Education and Acting Secretary Denise Carter as defendants.
Last August, a federal judge had ruled, at least temporarily, in favor of their challenge to the state’s recently passed law barring all transgender girls in grades 5–12 from participating in school sports. The students, ruled the judge, could continue to practice and play “during an initial phase of [the] lawsuit over a new state law that governs sex-separated school athletics.”
Health care rights
The state’s Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee heard testimony in March on HB 377, a bill aimed at stripping health care decisions for transgender minors from their parents.
“HB 377 is the latest in a years-long campaign by extremist legislators to roll back rights and protections for transgender Granite Staters, especially transgender youth, and to insert government between them and their families,” said GLAD Law Staff Attorney Chris Erchull in a public statement. “This coordinated effort is baseless and cruel and contradicts New Hampshire’s bedrock values of freedom and fairness.”
“It can be hard to understand what it’s like to have a transgender child. The parents of transgender adolescents need information and advice from professionals they trust, but this bill would cut off access to that guidance, leaving families without hope for supporting their children as they suffer. The committee must vote inexpedient to legislate to protect all New Hampshire families’ ability to seek and obtain health care in consultation with their trusted providers.”
Pride coordinator
NH Outright, the LGBTQ+ advocacy nonprofit formerly known as Seacoast Outright, has welcomed Billie Butler into their team as Pride Coordinator for Portsmouth Pride 2025.
“Billie is a creative producer with over three decades of experience in theater, music and event production. As a queer artist they are deeply connected to the Seacoast of NH’s vibrant arts and music scene and have dedicated their career to fostering inclusive spaces where diverse voices are always celebrated. When not crafting new theatrical works, they are smashing the patriarchy with their band Bitter Pill, or hanging out at home with their wife Paula and their two cats, Minerva and Zelda,” notes the announcement on NH Outright’s Facebook page.
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