New Hampshire House advances transgender bathroom bill, breaking with New England

In most of New England, the question of whether transgender people may
use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity has largely been
settled. In New Hampshire, lawmakers are reopening it. 

The Republican-controlled New Hampshire House voted 181–164 on Wednesday
evening to pass House Bill 1442, legislation that would allow schools,
government buildings, and some businesses to restrict bathrooms and
locker rooms based on sex assigned at birth rather than gender identity.
The bill now heads to the state Senate. 

If enacted, the measure would place New Hampshire further out of step
with the rest of the Northeast, where protections for trans residents in
public accommodations remain broadly intact. 

House Bill 1442 would require bathrooms and locker rooms in public
schools and municipally owned buildings to be designated for male or
female use based on sex. The bill also allows businesses and other
places of public accommodation to require that multi-user restrooms be
used according to what the legislation defines as a person’s “biological
sex.” 

The proposal goes further than many similar measures elsewhere by
creating a new legal mechanism tied to restroom use. Under the bill,
entering an area designated for females while classified as male under
the statute could be considered “willful trespass.” 

The legislation also establishes a statutory definition of sex that
centers on biological characteristics such as chromosomes and
reproductive anatomy, stating that a person’s gender identity does not
determine access to spaces designated for males or females. 

https://www.advocate.com/politics/states/new-hampshire-trans-bathroom-bil
l