N.H. Senate approves bills flagged as ‘harmful’ by state child advocate’s office

CONCORD, N.H. – The New Hampshire Senate approved two controversial bills on April 5 that have drawn the concern of LGBTQ+ advocates.

The bills would bar transgender girls from girls’ sports teams starting in sixth grade and including college (Senate Bill 375), and require teachers respond “completely and honestly” to parents’ questions about their child (Senate Bill 341).

Advocates are concerned this could cause the forcible “outing” of LGBTQ+ students to their parents, while proponents say parents have a right to know and the bills will restore trust in schools.

Both bills cleared the Republican-controlled Senate on partyline votes.

Senate Bill 341 passed by a 13 to 10 margin. It would require educators to answer parents’ questions about their child within 10 days. It includes an exception if an educator believes revealing the information would put the child at “imminent risk of physical harm, abuse, or neglect.” In that case, the educator has to file a report with the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

“Teachers should be honest to parents,” said Tim Lang, a Sanbornton Republican and the bill’s prime sponsor. “Honestly, I’m shocked that this simple idea needs to be clarified in statute and has become a political lightning rod.”

He said the bill does not target or single out any group of students and that student safety is compromised when schools keep secrets from parents.

Prior to the Senate vote, Cassandra Sanchez, the state’s child advocate, spoke against the bill, as well as about 30 others she said would be harmful to LGBTQ+ youth.

“When children have a true, healthy bond with their parents, they will share with them when they are ready,” she said. She said it would be difficult for educators to determine if answering questions from a parent could cause harm or neglect to the child.

“We’re putting an expectation on an educator to do the work of child welfare,” she said.

Democrats said the bill amounted to surveillance and argued the “complete and honest” standard was unclear, vague, and difficult to enforce. They said students should have the right to privacy.

“Students would know that anything they say or do could be reported, will be reported to their parents, taking away that trusted space,” said Senator Suzanne Prentiss, a West Lebanon Democrat.

The Senate’s approval comes after the House narrowly approved a related bill pertaining to parents’ rights and school disclosure policies.

Teachers unions in the state have opposed both bills, which they say are unnecessary and harmful because they can undermine students’ trust in educators. Megan Tuttle, the president of the National Education Association of New Hampshire, said there already are protocols for parents who are dissatisfied with an educator’s response to questions about their child. The query can be elevated to a principal or superintendent, she testified at the hearing for SB 341 in January.

The Senate also passed a bill that would ban transgender girls from female sports teams in a 14 to 10 party-line vote.

Senate Bill 375 requires sports teams to be either male, female, or coed, and bars transgender girls from female sports teams and locker rooms. It includes school sports starting in sixth grade through college and does not cover intramural or club sports. It requires athletes to prove their biological sex at birth with a birth certificate.

Republican proponents have billed it as a measure to protect women’s sports, which they believe are unfair and unsafe because of the participation of “biological males.” Republicans said men have strength and speed advantages over women.

“Concerned with safety and fairness, SB 375 would maintain that teams and activities for women and girls remain exclusive to those parties,” said Senator Ruth Ward, a Stoddard Republican.

“Women have fought hard to have their own teams, compete for scholarships, have their own competition for women only, and now they are at risk of losing that because of a stronger trans woman winning the competition,” she said.

SB 375 is broader than the House’s version of a similar ban, HB 1205, which did not include college sports or locker rooms. The House narrowly passed the ban in a 189 to 182 vote in late March.

Democrats argued April 5 banning transgender girls is discriminatory — and they say it will further harm children who are already marginalized and at an increased risk for depression, homelessness, and suicide.

“It creates a ban. It prohibits some of our kids — indeed some of our most vulnerable kids — from participating in a basic form of child interaction: play,” said Senator Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, a Portsmouth Democrat, speaking against the bill.

Twenty-four other states have banned transgender sports, according to the Movement Advancement Project.

The Senate bills will now head to the House for consideration.