Protestors station ‘genital observation police' outside N.H. State House restrooms as lawmakers OK bathroom bill
To drive their point home, the protestors distributed small cards telling people they would need to allow a GOP lawmaker to inspect their private parts before they could use the restrooms, which are located just a few steps from each legislative chamber. Some passersby scoffed at the demonstration as immature, while others chuckled.
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Brennan, who is affiliated with the
'A lot of these legislators are using this for points,' she said. 'They don't want to talk transgender people. They don't want to understand where they're coming from. They demonize them. And they demonize those of us who support them.'
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Tiffany Blessing-Gagnon, a protestor, distributes "genital inspection" cards outside the second-floor women's restroom at the New Hampshire State House on Thursday.
Steven Porter/Globe Staff
While opponents of HB 148 say it will place transgender people and others at risk, proponents say they aim to protect women and girls. The legislation would identify certain situations as appropriate for classifying people on the basis of biological sex, rather than gender identity. Those situations include jails and other detention facilities; athletic or sporting events in which males are generally recognized as enjoying a physical advantage; locker rooms and multi-person bathrooms.
The legislation would allow, but not require, public and private entities statewide to separate such facilities and events by sex rather than gender.
Kamren Munz, a trans nonbinary person who has been using the men's room for the past five years, said they have faced restroom-related discrimination, including being told to leave a facility based on perceptions of their gender, and HB 148 would make matters worse.
'It's encouraging the general public to basically ask very invasive questions,' they said.
Munz — a former public school teacher who
Despite the protest, HB 148 was approved in a party-line vote later Thursday by the Republicans who hold a supermajority in the 24-member New Hampshire Senate. The measure had already passed the 400-member House in March with approval from 198 Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent.
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During debate, Republican Senator William M. Gannon said his support for the legislation was based partly on his daughter's experience competing on an athletic field against a transgender opponent who was much taller and stronger than her. Gannon also said single-sex detention facilities are important for the safety of those detained.
Republican Senator Regina M. Birdsell said lawmakers need to protect privacy and the fairness of athletic competition for women and girls, who face blowback if they speak out about their discomfort when transgender people are allowed in single-sex spaces.
'Women are being marginalized in this environment,' she said, 'and as far as I'm concerned, this has to stop.'
In a
This legislation is very similar to a bill that Republican former governor Christopher T. Sununu
Sununu had signed legislation in 2018 and 2019 to add gender identity to the state's nondiscrimination law and apply those protections to school settings. He said some of the carve-outs that lawmakers wanted to add in 2024 tried 'to solve problems that have not presented themselves in New Hampshire.' The legislation would invite 'unnecessary discord,' he said.
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It's not yet clear whether Republican Governor Kelly A. Ayotte, who took office in January, will sign HB 148 into law.
Steven Porter can be reached at
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