When Kelly Ayotte was elected governor, I let out a sigh of relief for women and girls. She campaigned on protecting girls and women, stood with Riley Gaines and the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women to protect women’s spaces, and supported restricting women’s sports to biological women in her January podcast with NHJournal.
The public outrage on these issues is overwhelming and impossible to ignore. The recent NH Journal l/Praecones poll showed 85 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of independents, and 45 percent of Democrats support laws to prevent biological men in women’s bathrooms. The poll also showed a majority of respondents supported banning biological men from women’s bathrooms across all age groups.
I was stunned to learn that Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed a bill meant to protect women’s spaces from men – an unthinkable rejection of women’s safety and rights. Initially, I thought it may have been because the bill was not strong enough. However, I was shocked to hear that she vetoed the bill for being too broad, claiming it would have unintended consequences. This exact language was previously vetoed by her predecessor, giving Gov. Ayotte ample time to provide feedback and help craft a version that she could support.
Back in 2018, “gender identity” was added to our state’s existing protections against discrimination, which led to some unintended consequences. As a result of this language, anyone putting biological sex over gender identity is inviting an expensive lawsuit and big headlines.
Just this week, Bronwyn Sims discussed her discomfort in a Keene YMCA where she was alone in the locker room when a transgendered person came in and began changing very close to her. She was uncomfortable, grabbed her things, and went into a locked stall, and waited 10 minutes for the other person to leave. Women know that you choose a space away from others, change quickly, and get on with your workout. This encounter broke many social norms beyond gender identity. Unfortunately, anyone who offers women-only spaces in spaces that they operate is asking for a lawsuit. No wonder management gave no response to Ms. Sims. Incidents like what happened to Ms. Sims at the YMCA are what this bill was meant to prevent.
The unfortunate reality is that many women, and most young girls, do not speak up about this violation of their private space. This is happening in our schools, in health clubs, in private businesses, and even in the New Hampshire State House, which hosts visits from young school groups almost every day.
HB 148’s language was often misconstrued into something else. In reality, the bill’s language is simple: when personal privacy and physical safety are a concern, biological sex can be considered ahead of other protected classes. It doesn’t mandate separation, and leaves the “how-to” to the people running the place.
In fact, here is what HB 148 did have to say.
Bathrooms and locker rooms can be separate, and the idea of “genital checks” before using the bathroom is a strawman. Because of Gov. Ayotte’s veto, it’s still possible for someone to expose male genitals in a women’s restroom without facing any consequences.
In girls’ and women’s sports, when physical strength and speed matter, girls’ and women’s sports may remain female-only. With injuries increasing in competitions involving transgender athletes, we continue to put girls’ safety at risk.
For involuntary confinement, this one hits hard. In prisons, jails, juvenile detention centers, mental hospitals, and treatment centers, women are especially vulnerable. In everyday life, people can walk away from danger. But in confinement, women often cannot. Should any woman be forced to share a cell with a male who believes they are a female? Because of her veto, women remain at risk of sexual assault from potential cellmates or roommates in recovery houses or shelters. This is a complete failure to protect their safety.
When it came to inflating public employee pensions, the governor wasted no time getting people together to craft the language she wanted to deliver on her campaign promises. I look forward to the governor providing clear, actionable language she is willing to sign that honors her campaign promise to protect the safety, dignity, and well-being of women and girls.
The disappointment is palpable, especially since protecting women’s spaces and sports was a driving force behind election results from the top of the ticket to the bottom in 2024. This election was a clear mandate from voters who overwhelmingly trusted us to deliver a much-needed course correction. Many Granite Staters, especially women like me, are saying that they feel betrayed, misled, and let down by the Governor’s broken promise.
It’s a simple biological reality that, on average, men are physically stronger than women. New Hampshire must take decisive action to protect women, and House Republicans have vowed to defend the family foundation, which includes standing firmly for women at its very core.
