New Hampshire Gov. Sununu signs three major LGBT youth bills

Conservative New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Friday signed several bills that will affect transgender youth in his home state, including bans on transgender girls competing in girls' sports, and a ban on transgender surgeries for minors.

The governor also approved a bill that requires schools to give parents a two-week warning before they teach on LGBTQ topics, and allows parents to take their children out of those classrooms.

Sununu vetoed a bill (House Bill 396) that would roll back some of the protections he approved in 2018 to prevent discrimination against LGBT people in bathrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities like jails and prisons, according to the New Hampshire Bulletin. 

“The challenge with HB 396 is that in some cases it seeks to solve problems that have not presented themselves in New Hampshire, and in doing so invites unnecessary discord,” Sununu wrote in a statement. 

The transgender sports ban requires all sports teams for grades 5 through 12 to be designated for “males, men, or boys,” “females, women, or girls,” or “coed or mixed," according to the outlet. It requires students to produce their birth certificate when registering for teams in order to verify what their sex was at, or near, birth. Children that do not have their birth certificates need to prove their biological sex some other way.

“[The law] ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions,” Sununu said. 

It goes into effect on Aug. 19, and will be in place for the next school year.

The bill banning "gender-affirming" surgery for minors will go into effect in January, and bars physicians from performing the procedures on anyone under the age of 18. It specifically prohibits “genital gender reassignment surgery” on minors, and allows parents and children to sue doctors for up to two years after the surgery.

“[This law] ensures that life-altering, irreversible surgeries will not be performed on children,” Sununu said in his statement. “This bill focuses on protecting the health and safety of New Hampshire’s children and has earned bipartisan support.”

State Democrats and LGBT advocates slammed the decision in statements on Friday.

“The Senate Democrats know that our transgender community members are not a threat, they are the threatened, and we will not silently stand by while they are targeted with cruel legislation," New Hampshire Senate Democratic Leader Donna Soucy said in a statement obtained by WCAX.