HB1447

I am a registered New Hampshire voter, asking you to OPPOSE this bill. Thank you.

I oppose HB 1447. As with several other bills up for consideration today, this one is extremely discriminatory and unethical. We humans, no matter our gender identity, can figure out which bathroom is right for us and can be respectful of others in the process. This bill perpetuates discrimination. Do not pass HB 1447.

I oppose this bill because it goes against the principles of our state. “Live free or die” is often taken out of context. Approving this bill is not only a waste of my taxpayer dollars but is oxymoronic to our states motto. Never once have I felt uncomfortable using the restroom of another gender or sexual orientation. It’s unfair and unsafe for our trans community members to be subjected to using their assigned at birth restroom. Some people are so well passing that it would cause further issues having someone who entirely looks and presents as a man entering and using the women’s restroom.

This is prejudice and ableist. It allows my family and friends to feel unsafe and unwelcome in our communities.

Not appropriate! This is blatant discrimination against trans persons. This is just as bad as HB1442.

This bill is attempting to shut out transgender people from public life and punished when they have committed no crime. There is no compelling argument that this will improve safety. Instead, it will result in real harm to transgender people, intersex people, and anyone else who is suspected of falling into those categories.

The state has no right to dictate who is allowed in which bathrooms in public locations. All this does is puts trans people and women in danger of harassment for using "the wrong bathroom." Trans woman especially are at risk of harassment if they are forced to go into the men's bathroom. This is not safe for trans people and is dehumanizing to allow for discrimination based simply on genitalia. I oppose this bill because it creates a more dangerous situations for people who are already susceptible to harassment.

I James Karoutsos of Manchester, NH oppose this bill.

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Key reasons to oppose NH HB 1447 include: - Discrimination Against Transgender People: The bill specifically targets the transgender population by restricting their access to bathrooms, locker rooms, and other facilities based on biological sex rather than gender identity. - Violates Privacy and Safety: The bill creates "bathroom bill" scenarios that could lead to customers being interrogated about their sex, threatening the safety and dignity of individuals. - Legalizing Exclusion: The bill expressly states that restricting facilities based on sex does not qualify as discrimination, which opponents argue is a direct attempt to weaken existing anti-discrimination protections. - Business Liability and Overreach: While proponents suggest the bill offers "legal cover" for businesses to separate facilities, the reality is that it's an unnecessary intrusion into private and public business operations. Key fiscal reasons to oppose this type of restrictive legislation in New Hampshire include: - Potential Loss of Federal Funding: Similar to concerns regarding other restrictive legislation (like Medicaid changes in the 2025 "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"), legislation that challenges discrimination definitions often risks federal funding for education or infrastructure. - Costs of Compliance and Implementation: Public entities, including schools and municipalities, may incur direct expenses to modify facilities or update policies, creating an unfunded mandate on local property taxpayers. - Legal Defense Expenses: Such legislation can invite legal challenges regarding discrimination, creating significant litigation costs for the state and local governments. - Administrative and Enforcement Burdens: The cost of enforcing usage restrictions in public facilities can divert resources from essential services, such as police or fire departments.

See testimony from hb1217.

Just stay OUT OF THE BATHROOMS. Trans people are NOT the danger. Why are there so many bills wasting your time about this??? Get out of the bathrooms and fix real problems.

Dear members of the House Judiciary, I writing to oppose HB1447. This bill seeks to restrict access to public spaces based on biological sex, a policy that is discriminatory, unenforceable, and creates privacy and safety concerns for everyone. It invites scrutiny of people’s bodies and identities, especially women, rather than solving any real public safety issue. As a parent and family member to transgender individuals, this issue is deeply personal. Granite Staters deserve leadership that are focused on real issues like affordability and building strong communities, rather than constant legislation that seeks to invalidate and marginalize a vulnerable minority population. I urge you to vote no on HB1447. Thank you for your consideration. Theresa Vaillancourt Goffstown, NH

I oppose HB1447 because it is inherently discriminatory against transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) individuals and intersex individuals. This bill is very similar to HB 1442 with a slight modification in language with regard to trespassing, this feels like a redundancy that the legislature does not have time for. In addition, this bill like HB1442 claims to be for the protection of women and girls, but is actual creating more danger of unlawful discrimination and potentials threats of assault. It has also been found that cisgender people especially cis women face increased harassment and violence in instances of bathroom bans if they do not conform to traditional standards of femininity. This bill is overly specific in its mention of the SRY gene and ignores multiple disorders including Swyer Syndrome and 46,XX testicular disorder of sex development. It also misrepresents chimerism as many individuals with this karotype are ovotesticular, meaning they possess both ovarian and testicular tissue. One, I don't see how this bill is logically possible to enforce and if we are going to write something into law it should at minimum be scientifically accurate. As a therapist I have seen the effects of individuals experiencing discrimination and the benefits of being in a supportive environment. Please do not support a bill that is discriminatory, unnecessary, and dangerous to the safety of many youth and adults in NH

Bills like this are anti-privacy, anti-safety, anti-freedom. The gender police need to stop pretending there is any truth to their menacing stereotypes of transgender and intersex people -- it makes no sense, there's no proof, and it's obvious scapegoating. Please oppose this bill.

As a survivor of bullying, I vehemently oppose HB1447. HB1447 egregiously ignores the hardships that the trans community faces. It ignores that self-harm is alarmingly common for trans youth. And most damning of all, it is a dereliction of the state's duties to protect ALL of its citizens. The trans community demonstrably faces overwhelming discrimination. In renting, in the workplace, in school, and even at home they are targets of hate and abuse. For many, public spaces are the ONLY safety they can obtain, and this bill would strip them of even that. This bill also ignores bullying. My whole youth I was told there was no tolerance for bullying in school, which was a provable lie as I can attest. This bill wouldn't even afford the illusion that the state cares enough about the vulnerable to do the bare minimum to provide their safety. To give private entities the ability to trample on the basic dignities of thousands of members of YOUR community is an affront. It is a regression as abominable as Jim Crow. In no other context would this be seen as anything other than an attempt to harass a marginalized group of people. The purpose of sleeping quarters, and I feel absurd myself having to explain this to ostensible adults, is to sleep. As this activity does not require anatomy to accomplish, I fail to see the benefit of this bill outside of an intended goal to cause harm. This discussion isn't about the validity of the trans community's identities. That has already been settled. When the first slur was tossed, the first law against them written, the first discussion about their place in society we collectively agreed, regardless of how we felt about them, that they were a people. And with that personhood comes an OBLIGATION to protect them as any other minority group within society would be. HB1447 suggests that the end of that discussion is to isolate them further, to police their mere existence, and to treat trans identity as a problem the state must correct rather than a lived experience. To pass this bill would be to fail at every level of statehood. To deny freedom, dignity, the pursuit of happiness, and even basic humanity only to gain nothing but harsher policing in return. I oppose HB1447 and strongly recommend this committee vote ITL.

I can't say anything nice about the sponsors of this bill.

I oppose HB 1447, which extends facility restrictions beyond public buildings into private spaces as well. This is a significant and troubling expansion of state power into private business decisions. It also echoes HB 1299's dangerous notion that exclusion is not discrimination. This bill would affect usage of public right like using a gym, a shelter, or a doctor's office. For transgender people who already face higher rates of discrimination, housing instability, and healthcare avoidance - this bill compounds existing inequities. It does not solve for any demonstrated public safety problems, and creates a clear and serious civil rights issue. Please vote Inexpedient to Legislate.

Obsessed with bathrooms much? Given there is not one documented incident of bathroom malfeasance, this is just culture war baloney, just like HB 1442.

Please stop putting up legislation that is attacking the Trans community. There are many more significant issues and problems that you are charged with addressing as an elected official. This is not what state government should be focused on.

This is discrimination. Please oppose. Thank you.

Please OPPOSE HB1447. Like the other bills considered the morning of Feb 20, this bill further alienates and marginalizes transgender people. It's not the NH way to demonstrate this sort of hate. It's very disappointing and hurtful. It's also discriminatory, regardless of what the bill says. Gender is much more expansive than what this bill states. It also clearly aims to strip protected statuses. Please vote ITL.

Really? Five separate bills today all with the aim of discrimination. This one wants to pretend that it isn't for discrimination, but there is no other conceivable reason for trying to push through a bill like this. Especially, when the governor has vetoed similar bills both last year and this year. While there may be much I disagree with Governor Ayotte about, we can agree that everyone deserves the quiet dignity of being able to use the bathroom of their choice without fear of harassment or assault. Is this the Live Free Or Die state? I could've sworn that was the state motto. I was born and raised in this state. i have never lived anywhere else. I've always felt as though I could truly be myself here and I don't intend to let that change. These bills are not genuinely, at their hearts, about keeping public or private spaces safe. They are about fear. I understand that it can be hard to understand a community that you're not a part of and don't necessarily have a connection to. But that fear doesn't absolve you from attempting to legislate a minority population out of existence. And such attempts will not be successful. Gay, queer, trans, and gender nonconforming people will continue to exist; beyond what these pieces of legislation attempt to tell us about our existence. Those who want to go into bathrooms that they don't belong in to harass or assault someone isn't going to let something like being the wrong gender stop them if that's what they really want to do.

This is another discriminatory bill that demonized trans people and does nothing to protect women. Additionally, it misrepresents the range of intersex conditions.

I strongly oppose this bill. If we require a person to be somewhere, we have to acknowledge their identity, including gender, while they’re there. That means acknowledging trans persons’ gender and letting them use the bathroom or changing facilities that correspond to their gender. Please consider that trans people are just trying to live their lives in peace.