House on May 16, 2024. Photo, Geoff Forester, Monitor Staff
Story Produced by the Concord Monitor, a Member of
CONCORD, NH – The New Hampshire Senate passed a bill Thursday that would ban transgender girls from participating on NHIAA-sanctioned sports teams starting in fifth grade.
The bill, HB 1205, was passed by the House in March and now heads to Gov. Chris Sununu’s desk. Gov. Sununu has not indicated whether he will support the ban and did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the Senate’s vote.
A transgender sports ban currently exists in 25 states. Various bills have been floated in New Hampshire during this legislative session, but this is the first to pass both bodies of the state legislature.
If signed into law, the bill would require all sports teams in fifth grade through 12th grade to be designated as “boys,” “girls,” or “mixed” teams, and would prohibit students assigned male at birth from participating in the teams designated for “girls.”
The bill, which passed 13-10 along party lines in the Republican-majority Senate, has been described by proponents as necessary to protect safety and fairness in girl’s sports. Opponents, meanwhile, have countered that it unnecessarily targets the tiny number of transgender girls who wish to play sports in New Hampshire.
The exact number of transgender girls who would be affected by the ban is unclear, but nationally, less than 0.5% of high school athletes and approximately 30 collegiate athletes are estimated to be transgender.
Thursday’s vote came less than an hour after Sen. Denis Ricciardi passed out on the Senate floor. She was taken away by ambulance and was not present for the vote. She is currently conscious, according to Senate President Jeb Bradley.
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