New Hampshire’s Republican governor on Friday signed laws banning genital gender surgeries on minors and trans-identifying boys from competing in girls’ sports.
Governor Chris Sununu (R) signed a bill banning doctors from performing gender surgeries on children’s genitals — such as phalloplasty and vaginoplasty — and threatening disciplinary action if they refer children to other providers for these procedures.
“This bill focuses on protecting the health and safety of New Hampshire’s children and has earned bipartisan support,” Sununu said in a statement on the bill.
The bill does not address other gender surgeries minors sometimes get, such as a double mastectomy to remove the healthy breasts of a teen girl who identifies as male. It also does not address puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, which are frequently prescribed to gender dysphoric children and come with a host of risks.
At least 25 states have passed legislation banning or restricting transgender medical interventions for minors. In Florida, Ohio, and Montana, the restrictions are held up in court.
Also on Friday, Sununu signed another bill banning biological boys from competing on girls’ athletic teams.
Both public and private schools from kindergarten through college must comply with the new sports restrictions.
Recently, critics have raised serious concerns about biological males playing alongside women and girls. Some female competitors have said they missed out on opportunities and scholarships because they lost competitions to trans-identifying males.
High school girls have been physically injured playing with trans-identifying males. Last year in North Carolina, a female high school volleyball player suffered severe trauma after a trans-identifying male player spiked a volleyball that hit her head.
Sununu signed a third bill that allows parents to opt their children out of public school lessons on “sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or gender expression.”
Curriculum content in public schools became a hot-button issue after the pandemic when frustrated parents realized their children were being exposed to controversial topics while suffering massive learning loss. Other states like Florida have banned public schools from teaching gender, sexuality, and racial topics to young students.
However, Sununu vetoed another bill that declared it was not unlawful discrimination for businesses and the government to separate people by sex when it comes to bathrooms, sports, jails, and mental health facilities.
The governor said the issue with that bill was that “in some cases it seeks to solve problems that have not presented themselves in New Hampshire, and in doing so, invites unnecessary discord.”
The new laws were praised by Republicans, who pushed the bills.
“These bills are pragmatic and reasonable and I applaud the governor for signing them into law,” said state Representative Joe Sweeney, a Salem Republican, in a statement.
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New Hampshire’s Republican governor on Friday signed laws banning genital gender surgeries on minors and trans-identifying boys from competing in girls’ sports.
Governor Chris Sununu (R) signed a bill banning doctors from performing gender surgeries on children’s genitals — such as phalloplasty and vaginoplasty — and threatening disciplinary action if they refer children to other providers for these procedures.
“This bill focuses on protecting the health and safety of New Hampshire’s children and has earned bipartisan support,” Sununu said in a statement on the bill.
The bill does not address other gender surgeries minors sometimes get, such as a double mastectomy to remove the healthy breasts of a teen girl who identifies as male. It also does not address puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, which are frequently prescribed to gender dysphoric children and come with a host of risks.
At least 25 states have passed legislation banning or restricting transgender medical interventions for minors. In Florida, Ohio, and Montana, the restrictions are held up in court.
Also on Friday, Sununu signed another bill banning biological boys from competing on girls’ athletic teams.
Both public and private schools from kindergarten through college must comply with the new sports restrictions.
Recently, critics have raised serious concerns about biological males playing alongside women and girls. Some female competitors have said they missed out on opportunities and scholarships because they lost competitions to trans-identifying males.
High school girls have been physically injured playing with trans-identifying males. Last year in North Carolina, a female high school volleyball player suffered severe trauma after a trans-identifying male player spiked a volleyball that hit her head.
Sununu signed a third bill that allows parents to opt their children out of public school lessons on “sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or gender expression.”
Curriculum content in public schools became a hot-button issue after the pandemic when frustrated parents realized their children were being exposed to controversial topics while suffering massive learning loss. Other states like Florida have banned public schools from teaching gender, sexuality, and racial topics to young students.
However, Sununu vetoed another bill that declared it was not unlawful discrimination for businesses and the government to separate people by sex when it comes to bathrooms, sports, jails, and mental health facilities.
The governor said the issue with that bill was that “in some cases it seeks to solve problems that have not presented themselves in New Hampshire, and in doing so, invites unnecessary discord.”
The new laws were praised by Republicans, who pushed the bills.
“These bills are pragmatic and reasonable and I applaud the governor for signing them into law,” said state Representative Joe Sweeney, a Salem Republican, in a statement.
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