The Senate Education Committee heard passionate testimony about how student-athletes’ gender should factor into school sports.
“This bill, as far as I’m concerned, harms children,” said Nancy Brennan, of Weare.
State Sen. Kevin Avard, R-Nashua, is the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 375, which requires sports teams to expressly be designated as male, female or coed. It prohibits what it calls biologically male students from participating in female sports or entering female locker rooms.
There is no prohibition in the bill against transgender boys participating in boys sports or going into boys locker rooms or restrooms.
“Women will compete against women, men against men,” Avard said.
The bill covers public school sports in New Hampshire. Seventeen people testified on the bill, and aside from Avard, only one other person was in favor of it.
Fifteen people testified against the bill.
“Using the power of the state to keep girls out of these literally life-changing activities is terrible,” said Jonah Sutton-Morse, of Canterbury.
One person testifying against the bill was a Pembroke eighth-grader who said she is transgender.
“My name is Iris, and I am a female,” she said.
Iris told the committee she has a court order identifying her as female.
“I could try to use the girls locker room because legally I’m a female,” she said. “But these proposed laws say that me and my school could get sued for having a trans girl on girls teams or in girls bathrooms or in girls locker rooms.”
The committee plans to go into executive session for a possible vote at a later time.
