New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) is expected to sign a bill in the coming week that would ban discrimination in the state based on gender identity.
The Republican-controlled state Senate passed the legislation last week. The bill would make it illegal to discriminate against transgender people in matters of housing, employment, and public accommodations.
“These laws are necessary because of the pervasive discrimination that transgender people face at work, at home, and in public. I’m not transgender, but 10-20 years ago, I experienced these discriminations,” said gay Republican Sen. Dan Innis to the ‘New Hampshire Union Leader.’
The law will go into effect 30 days after Sununu signs it.
The public accommodations inclusion drew some pushback from several Republican lawmakers; the part of the law that provides protections for transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
Republican Senator Willam Gannon said in the Union Leader, ” I believe that other people have an interest here, a privacy right that this bill is going to infringe on.”
New Hampshire will be among 19 other states with good or mediocre protections for gender identity in the United States according to the Transgender Law Center.¹
While this is a celebration of progress by a surprising Republican Senate and Governor, it is a cautious celebration until this bill is signed into law and the pushback does not result in new anti-bathroom laws. It also reminds us that over half the states in the country not only DON’T have gender identity protections, they actually have anti-trans legislation.
- Transgender Law Center’s National Equality Map
- Additional Editor’s Reading Pick The Saga of Title VII Continues A look at EEOC v. R.G. &. G.R. Harris Funeral Homes
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