Parental rights draws biggest State House crowd of 2023
Apr. 18—CONCORD — An emotional battle over parental rights versus an LGBTQ student's right to privacy drew an overflow crowd to the State House on Tuesday, but the outcome of the issue remains in doubt.
Hundreds of activists on both sides rallied before a daylong hearing of the House Education Committee on a controversial Senate-passed bill (SB 272).
Last month, a move to pass a similar bill (HB 10) failed in the House of Representatives, 195-189.
Katie Lennon, 18, of Lowell, Mass., said she is a former transgender youth who regrets having had a double mastectomy and hysterectomy. She described herself as a "de-transitioner."
"There are adults working with your children who know secrets about them, intimate secrets, about their sexual ethics and identity. And not only are they not telling you, they're actively hiding it from you. They don't want you to know as much about your own children as they do," Lennon said.
"My scars will never heal, I will never have children, my face is permanently masculinized and I have to shave my beard every morning."
On the other side of the issue, Linds Jakows said she underwent emotional abuse while in high school after her father learned she was queer.
"Every LGBTQ person should be able to come out on their own timeline, in spaces that feel safe to them. We know ourselves best. Believe us when we talk about our own experiences, and when we tell you it is not safe for others to know that we are LGBTQ — including our family members, even when we are younger than 18," said Jakows, who organized a rally against the bill for Granite State Progress.
Nearly 5,000 signed up online to weigh in on the measure, with roughly 2,000 in support and nearly 3,000 against it.
Chloe Cole, 18, of Central Valley, California, came to the State House to share her story about being born a female, taking puberty blockers at 13 and getting a mastectomy at 15.
She believes for most kids, this is a phase that will pass.
"They grow out of it when they are just given a chance to be kids." Chloe testified.
Bill Blum of Portsmouth urged lawmakers to realize this legislation will make many transgender students less safe.
"My prayers are that you will not discriminate against marginalized communities," Blum said.
Parents must ask
Last year's version of the bill would have required teachers to affirmatively inform parents about a child's gender identity exploration, including membership in gay or transgender social clubs.
The 2023 bills compel teachers to share information only after a parent asks for it.
The bill permits a teacher to refuse to give this information to a parent if by "clear and convincing evidence," the educator believes it would make the student subject to abuse or neglect at home.
The teacher would have to file a report with his or her superior stating the reasons for not informing a parent.
Several opponents said that nondisclosure clause includes a standard that is too vague, and the reality is many abused children suffer in silence.
Beth Scaer, a Nashua parent and conservative activist, said keeping such information from parents is driving families from public education.
"Parents are fleeing public schools. If you want public schools to thrive, you need to win the trust of parents back," Scaer said.
A Manchester mother filed a lawsuit last year against that city's school board after school administrators denied her access to gender-related information about her child.
That case became a rallying cry for this change in the 2022 election cycle.
The Supreme Court is considering the mother's appeal of a lower court judge's ruling that went against her.
"We have had policies adopted by school boards in this state that outright lie and deceive parents, and that is wrong, categorically wrong," said Senate Majority Leader Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, the bill's prime author.
"You can't get as much as a Tylenol for a headache without a parents' permission. Why is this being allowed?"
Gearing up for 2024
Both sides see this as a powerful political issue.
Former Senate President Chuck Morse, R-Salem, a likely 2024 Republican candidate for governor, returned to the State House to urge the bill's passage.
"At its core, SB 272 is about enshrining a parents' right to conversations in the school that their children are having with teachers," Morse said.
The Republican State Committee spent the past few weeks urging supporters to turn out Tuesday.
A coalition of groups from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, Granite State Progress, the state's two largest teacher unions, 603 Equality, New Hampshire Youth Movement and GLBTQ Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) have been mobilizing against this cause for months.
House Speaker Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry, said the bill is too important to let fail.
"You are not supposed to indoctrinate them (students) into a socialist, communist society," Packard said. "We cannot allow SB 272 to die. It must pass."
Grafton County Treasurer Karen Liot Hill of Lebanon said her 16-year-old child is a transgender student.
"This is outright discrimination and is inconsistent with the New Hampshire values of freedom and equality," she said of the bill.
State Rep. Peter Petrigno, D-Milford, a former New Hampshire Teacher of the Year, defended the right of educators to keep a confidence.
"No one has the right to compel anyone else to do anything against their will," Petrigno said.
Critics said the bill runs counter to state laws banning discrimination against students in public school and discrimination against anyone based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
If the past is a predictor, the House education panel will split down the middle, 10-10 on the bill, and its survival will depend on who is in attendance in the House the day the bill taken up.
Gov. Chris Sununu has said he supports the concept, but he has not weighed in on any specific legislation about the topic this year.
