by Shannon McGinley |
Not surprisingly over the past couple of years, our state and its new democratic majorities in the House and Senate have eagerly jumped on the transgender bandwagon.
This year, we have been following no fewer than five separate bills, all designed to mainstream and champion individuals who self-identify as transgender, or other than their biological sex – an estimated 0.6 percent of the population and a growing movement, especially among our youth.
Using words such as “non-discrimination” and “protections” feels right and good, but they are far from benign. Taken on their own merit, each of these bills brings not only confusion but presents real threats to the viability of New Hampshire’s facilities and programs. Put them together, and the result is an incoherent construct that threatens our state educational, statistical, and religious institutions. Consider these legislative building blocks:
- SB 263 holds schools legally and financially responsible for school employees’ discrimination against students on grounds including “gender identity.” The bill leaves discrimination undefined.
- HB 608 is sweeping legislation extending across more areas of NH law adding “gender identity” to the list of protected groups.
- HB 446 establishes procedures for individuals to amend their birth certificates retroactively, changing the biological sex to a self-selected gender designation.
- HB 669 allows for the category of “X” on a driver’s license, as an alternative to M (for male) or F (for female).
- HB 383 expands our state law against discrimination (RSA 354-4) to apply to any public or non-public school that receives public funds to include “gender identity.”
Not surprisingly, all these bills are partisan, enthusiastically sponsored and pushed through by the Democrats controlling the House and Senate – any other voices have been neatly sidelined.
In our legislative halls, sex has now taken a back seat to the concept of “gender identity.” The phrase “sex assigned at birth” neatly skirts the inconvenient truth of biological sex, referring to sex as if it were some random determination with no relation to our species, reproduction, or natural law.
The inherent conflict of sex and “assigned” gender will collide as individuals will be able to claim inclusion based on self-definition. The world of women’s sports is already being turned on its head by transgender athletes who are able to leverage their natural physical advantages to take national and world titles away from their biologically female competitors.
Four of these bills have passed the House and Senate, lacking only Gov. Sununu’s signature to become law in the Granite State. The fifth bill, HB 383, has been retained for further action next year. So, what will these legislative pieces look like as a whole when the full impact of these laws, if enacted, is felt in New Hampshire? Consider:
- With broad non-discrimination laws enacted to cover a small self-defined minority, our schools will not be able to protect our children from sharing facilities with the opposite sex or even being in a classroom with age-inappropriate peers.
- Any private or religious school that receives state-sponsored monies, including funds from an ETC (Education Tax Credit) Scholarship, will be vulnerable to legal action.
- Sports teams will be required to accept students on the basis of non-biological gender.
- Medical providers will not have access to important biological information for some patients, paving the way for potential misdiagnoses and ineffective/harmful treatment protocols.
- Multiple scientific studies have demonstrated that the majority of children resolve their early gender dysphoria by adulthood. By reinforcing a child’s early feelings of gender confusion, New Hampshire could be committing him/her down a road of permanent and potentially harmful medical intervention.
- In a state where our institutions and legal system will stand firmly on the side of recognizing children as permanently transgender, the rights of New Hampshire parents will come sharply into question when they find themselves stripped of their ability to make the care decisions they feel are best for children suffering from gender dysphoria.
One irony of the rise of gender-neutral and transsexual identity questions is their reliance on traditional sexual norms as a baseline. Moreover, the concept “gender fluidity” is inherently contradicted by the culture’s drive to declare an individual’s biological sex a mistake and hurry children and adults down a path of permanent chemical and surgical alteration. When our children are struggling with their sexual identity, failing to address the whole person in favor of such life-altering and drastic measures is simply wrong.
For us, it is simple. We believe in the inherent dignity of each and every person. We recognize the biology of two sexes – male and female. We also believe in the equality of the two sexes as God has created them – each bringing their own complementary strengths and gifts. For our state to deny these realities is to invite chaos from order.