HB1422

Dear Honorable Members of the Judiciary Committee, I am Lynn Lippitt, a resident of Milford, and I have transgender family members and friends who are at risk of being adversely impacted by this bill. I oppose HB1442 for the following reasons: This bill removes freedoms and inflicts harm on a vulnerable group of people. Transgender and non-binary people have been protected by New Hampshire’s anti-discrimination laws for years based on the due diligence of prior legislators and the support of the majority of New Hampshire’s citizens. Nothing of substance has changed, just the political climate, and people should not be used as political pawns. There is no evidence that, as a group, transgender and non-binary people using the bathroom, participating in sports, or being in a shelter, prison, or other publicly funded facility based on their true gender causes harm to others. If an individual member of any group causes harm there are laws that cover that. The fear that an individual might cause harm is not a reason to deny a group of people their freedom and liberty. Girls and women can protect their privacy by using single stalls and changing areas in bathrooms and locker rooms. It seems the real issue is that some people are simply uncomfortable with the idea of using the same facilities as someone of the same gender who may not have the same body parts they do. But how will they know this? Whose privacy is being violated to find out? It’s not possible to know someone’s sex assigned at birth by how they look. This bill encourages anyone to violate the privacy of anyone else because they feel uncomfortable. The real danger is to transgender people being required to use a bathroom that is the opposite of their true gender. Violence against transgender people has been documented and is on the rise. Passing this bill will put transgender people in a catch 22: either break the law and face arrest, fines, and a criminal record or be harassed, bullied, and perhaps even worse. This bill seems like just another way to “out” transgender people without providing any real protection for women and girls. And this “outing” could result in physical harm and perhaps loss of employment. This is not a case of equal concerns: it is comfort vs. safety. The result of passing HB1442 will be to put the majority of transgender and nonbinary people in harm’s way in order for a few people feel more comfortable. There is no way to enforce this bill without an invasion of privacy, the very thing this bill wants to curtail. This bill allows anyone to legitimately question someone’s sex at birth based on what they look like. This power can be used to harass and intimidate cis-gender people as well as transgender and non-binary people. Legislation limiting participation in sports based on sex assigned at birth is not the right, or the best, mechanism to ensure girls and women can safely participate in sports. Funding for proper coaching, equipment, and supervision for sports will have a much greater impact. For these reasons, I oppose HB1442 and any similar bill and I urge you to please oppose this bill or at least find it ITL. Thank you, Lynn Lippitt

NH does not need to be wasting it’s time on this kind of hateful discriminatory nonsense.

This is an incredible overreach of government authority. Not only is this entire bill pretty much unenforceable without incredibly invasive questioning practices at best, or "gender checks" at worst, this also does nothing to protect women. Trans individuals are not a threat to women or children, in fact, statistically the people who attack and rape women and children at an incredibly high rate are primarily straight white men, but it appears this legislature has no interest in that conversation. This is only going to create a witch-hunt situation for a group of people that are already marginalized and vulnerable.

Bathroom bills cannot be enforced, they are silly and based on transphobia.

I vehemently oppose any attempt to keep people from going the bathroom of the gender with which they identify. They are not "men" trying to use the ladies' rooms. They are women or girls wanting only to go to the bathroom. There are no instances in the entire country of men wearing women's clothes just so they can get into the ladies' rooms. Imagine if you were born with a female body and have transitioned to male. You have a bald spot on your head and a full beard and moustache. Now imagine some politician has ordered that you have to use the ladies' room because it says "F" on your birth certificate. This is patently ridiculous and to make transgender girls or boys go into the bathooms of the genders they don't identify with is pure and simple child abuse. Imagine as a young boy being told that you had to use the girls' bathroom. Put yourself in these people's shoes and THINK before you legislate.