With a bipartisan 14-10 vote Wednesday, the New Hampshire Senate approved a bill adding “gender identity” to the list of identities protected under the state’s nondiscrimination law. Having already passed in the Republican-controlled House, it now heads to Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who has promised to sign it.
New Hampshire will be the 19th state to explicitly protect transgender people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. It’s also the first state to pass such a law since Maryland added gender identity in protections in 2014. New Hampshire lawmakers have considered trans protections since at least 2009.
In general, states have recently been more focused on considering bills that limit rights for transgender people — if not outright mandate discrimination against them. Even neighboring Massachusetts, which updated its gender identity protections to include public accommodations in 2016, faces a referendum this year to repeal them.
But trans rights have been advancing in other ways, as courts increasingly recognize that protections on behalf of “sex” also protect transgender people on account of their gender identity. While these precedents are growing and impacting more states thanks to appellate-level decisions, there is still no federal precedent guaranteeing such coverage.
Likewise, 31 states still have no laws explicitly protecting transgender people from discrimination. They can be denied a job, a place to live, or even service at stores just because of their gender identity.
The Williams Institute estimates that about 5,000 transgender adults and teens live in New Hampshire who will now be protected from anti-trans discrimination for the first time.
Freedom for All Americans, an organization working to advance LGBTQ equality across the country, praised the bill’s passage in a statement from CEO Masen Davis. “Our shared triumph in New Hampshire is yet another example that equality is not a partisan issue, but a human issue,” Davis said, “and one that resonates deeply with the core values of Americans from all walks of life.”
This likely won’t be New Hampshire’s last LGBTQ victory this year. Both the House and Senate have approved different versions of a bill that would ban conversion therapy for LGBTQ minors. The bill remains in conference.
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