On Wednesday, the New Hampshire Senate bravely passed HB 396, “State Recognition of Biological Sex,” in a 14-10 party-line vote.
This bill, sponsored by Rep. Jim Kofalt, clarifies that New Hampshire law does not ban separation based on biological sex in athletics, locker rooms, restrooms, and jails.
The same day, New Hampshire Journal and Praecones Analytica released a new poll showing that the bill is favored by a large majority of Granite Staters. Specifically, 74% of Granite Staters believe that biological sex separation should be legal in restrooms and locker rooms, while 59% believe it should be legal in school sports.
Only 10% of Granite Staters support banning biological sex separation in restrooms and locker rooms, while 18% support banning sex separation in school sports.
Remarkably, the 8-point difference between these two numbers seems to come mostly from liberal women. While a significant minority of Granite State women support requiring girls to compete against biological males in athletics, these same women are much more hesitant about requiring girls to share locker rooms and restrooms with male students.
HB 396 is urgently necessary because school districts—and New Hampshire’s Department of Justice—have falsely claimed that New Hampshire law prohibits all separation on the basis of biological sex. These claims have deceived many schools and other public entities into prohibiting all biological sex separation.
Milford School District is one example of a district which disregards biological sex because board members have accepted these false claims. In a House committee hearing on HB 396, one young mother from Milford told committee members that a biological male is not only using her daughter’s locker room, but also mocking her daughter, insulting her privacy and dignity. Similar reports have come from Interlakes and other school districts.
Although courts around the country are split on this issue, New Hampshire’s left-wing Department of Justice has consistently lobbied to block all biological sex separation in athletics, restrooms, and locker rooms. Earlier this year, leading Democrat state representative Marjorie Smith praised New Hampshire’s Attorney General for his lobbying work, saying that the DOJ is the most progressive it has been in her 25 years as a legislator.
It is only a matter of time before the DOJ’s position is extended to New Hampshire prisons. In California, this has already led to multiple men with male genitals being assigned as the cellmates of incarcerated women.
New Hampshire’s Department of Justice is currently to the left of the Biden administration. The Biden administration’s recent Title IX rule stated explicitly that sex-separated “athletic teams” and “living facilities” do not violate federal law. In contrast, the DOJ has repeatedly told House committees that nondiscrimination law prohibits all sex separation in sports, restrooms, and locker rooms.
The Biden administration’s new rule vindicates what Cornerstone has been saying these past years: that the NH DOJ has been taking a progressive activist position, not giving an unbiased and straightforward description of the law.
Without HB 396, New Hampshire school districts will continue to be deluded into believing that all biological sex separation in private spaces is somehow illegal—insulting the privacy and dignity of girls like those in Milford and Interlakes.
Ask Governor Sununu to reject the DOJ’s position and sign HB 396. Call on him to side with the 74% of Granite Staters who support common sense, privacy, and human dignity. You can call the Governor’s office at (603) 271-2121, or email him at governorsununu@nh.gov.
Be sure to find and thank your Republican state senator for passing HB 396.
