New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would ban transgender women and girls from participating in girls' school sports teams, making the state the first state in the Northeast to adopt such a measure. I decided.
New Hampshire's Republican-controlled House approved House Bill 1205 on a mostly party-line vote Thursday. The bill, titled the Women's Sports Fairness Act, is currently in the state's Republican-led Senate, where it is expected to pass.
House Republicans on Thursday said the bill would require interscholastic, intercollegiate and intracollegiate sports teams to designate participation based on a player's sex assigned at birth, and would They argued that it was necessary to preserve the sanity and prevent the erosion of Title IX. It prohibits discrimination based on gender in schools.
Democrats said the measure discriminates against transgender student-athletes by severely limiting their ability to participate in school sports and isolating them from their peers, along with other similar measures. .
“It's hard not to despair as I watch bills like this get voted on week after week. But rest assured, the fight isn't over,” said an openly transgender New Hampshire resident. said Rep. Alisandra Murray, one of three members of Congress. Said on Thursday's Xformerly Twitter.
“We'll block these bills in the Senate, and if we don't, we'll undo all this harm next year when Democrats take over,” Murray said. “We will not leave this situation alone.”
LGBTQ and civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire (ACLU), have similarly vowed to oppose the state's proposal as it passes the Senate, and the state is already considering a nearly similar bill. .
New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu has not said whether he will sign House Bill 1205 if it reaches his desk.
In an interview this month with Manchester's WMUR-TV, Sununu said she believes it is “dangerous” for transgender women and girls to compete with cisgender female athletes in athletics, but the bill I added that I need to see the final form before making a decision.
“If there are too many other provisions and restrictions that deviate significantly from what we're talking about here, that could cause problems,” he said.
In May, Sununu joined 24 other Republican governors in potentially blocking states from enacting laws that would ban transgender athletes from participating in school sports teams that match their gender identity. has criticized the Biden administration's proposed changes to Title IX regulations.
In a separate statement, Sununu said opposition to the administration's proposal was primarily about local control. “The best solutions are at the local level and ultimately up to each school and league, not a one-size-fits-all approach from Washington,” he said.
Current New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association guidelines allow transgender student-athletes in the state to compete on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
At least 24 states have enacted laws restricting transgender student-athletes' participation since 2020, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that tracks LGBTQ laws. If House Bill 1205 becomes law, New Hampshire would become the first state in the Northeast to adopt a statewide ban on transgender athletes.
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