The nation is now split exactly in half over whether biological males should participate in female sports.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed legislation barring boys from competing in girls’ sports in grades 5-12 as determined by sex at birth, making New Hampshire the 25th state to pass a law aimed at keeping male-born students out of female athletics.
“HB 1205 ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions,” the Republican governor said in a statement. “With this widely supported step, New Hampshire joins nearly half of all U.S. States in taking this measure.
Mr. Sununu also signed House Bill 619, which prohibits performing gender-transition surgeries on patients under 18, making New Hampshire the 26th state to ban such procedures for minors.
“HB 619 ensures that life altering, irreversible surgeries will not be performed on children,” Mr. Sununu said. “This bill focuses on protecting the health and safety of New Hampshire’s children and has earned bipartisan support.”
He added: “Even the Biden Administration opposes these youth surgeries, citing the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
Mr. Sununu went the other direction on House Bill 396, vetoing a “bathroom bill” that would have allowed businesses and government entities to restrict access to facilities such as restrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex rather than gender identity.
The governor said that HB 396 seeks to “solve problems that have not presented themselves in New Hampshire.”
Republicans have a trifecta in New Hampshire, meaning that they hold the governor’s office as well as both houses of the state legislature.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party blasted the bill signings as “dangerous and discriminatory.”
“We cannot and should not sugar coat it,” said the New Hampshire House Democrats on X. “Today, @NHGOP took away the equal rights and freedoms of LGBTQ+ Granite Staters and their families.”
Swinging back was state Rep. Joe Alexander, an openly gay Republican, who called it “absolutely disgusting and infuriating that @NHDems continue to speak for the entire LGBT+++ community by saying we ALL want minors to have irreversible surgery.”
“I know trans Granite Staters who live in Goffstown and think these bills are completely reasonable,” Mr. Alexander said on X.
Please show me in the bills that Sununu signed where it impacts LGB kids in any way.
— Rep. Joe Alexander  (@JoeAlexanderNH) July 19, 2024
Stop hijacking our movement to push your extreme agenda on children. #NHPolitics https://t.co/mXPSpYfwEy
Republican state Rep. Joe Sweeney thanked the governor “for signing our common sense bills defending women’s sports & protecting minors from life altering surgeries,” calling the measures “pragmatic & reasonable.”
One House Democrat voted for HB 1205, while 14 House Democrats voted for HB 619, according to LegiScan.
Twenty-four states ban gender-transition hormones for minors as well as surgeries, while New Hampshire joins Arizona in prohibiting surgeries only, according to the Movement Advancement Project map.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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