We attended the second public hearing for SB 480, the NH Senate version of the Save Women’s Sports bill on Tuesday, March 10.
During the hearing, we heard from the NH Women’s Foundation about how important it is to allow men to compete in women’s sports because it is good for their self-esteem, and that disallowing men from competing in women’s sports is at odds with Title IX. You can read their written testimony here.
After the hearing, the NH Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee went into executive session and the majority voted that SB 480 is Inexpedient to Legislate.
The full NH Senate will vote on SB 480 on Thursday, March 19. The session will begin at 10 am, and SB 480 will be one of the first items on the agenda. Read on Cornerstone the reasons why SB 480 is needed for protecting women’s sports.
Contact your Senator and politely ask him or her to overturn the committee’s recommendation of Inexpedient to Legislate and vote Ought to Pass on SB 480.
On Thursday, March 12, HB 1251, the NH House version of the Save Women’s Sports bill, was voted on by the full NH House. Rep. Mark Pearson, prime sponsor for HB 1251, spoke passionately in favor of passing the bill. He spoke of women losing school and state records, losing scholarships, and losing spots on teams, and he spoke at length about how Title IX was supposed to give women equal opportunities in school sports, and how allowing men to compete in women’s sports goes against Title IX. Rep. Pearson said of the claim that tests are invasive, that the student can easily prove biological sex with a birth certificate. In his conclusion, Rep. Pearson quoted Martin Luther King Jr.:
We will not seek to substitute one tyranny for another, thereby subverting justice.
Rep. Stephen Woodcock of Center Conway spoke in opposition to HB 1251. He said Title IX is about equity but the bill isn’t about equity. He said that HB 1251 is about preventing trans athletes from playing on a girls’ team. He said that “trans girls are girls and belong on girls’ teams” and “trans boys belong on boys’ teams.” He claimed that it is rare that a gender-confused male athlete can beat female athletes because he said that most of the gender-confused male athletes are taking puberty-suppressing drugs. “This disparity in size rarely happens. Those are the facts.” claimed Rep. Woodcock, ignoring the reality of men dominating in women’s sports. He claims that SB 1251 is a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” to prevent gender-confused boys from participating in sports. “It is discrimination plain and simple.”
The Speaker called the vote, with “Yea” indicating a vote to concur with the House Education Committee recommendation to kill the bill, and the vote was 184 “Yea” to 141 “Nay”, almost exclusively on party lines, killing the bill. 131 Republicans voted to save women’s sports and 182 Democrats voted to let men continue to dominate in women’s sports. Two Republicans joined the Democrats in voting to kill the bill, Rep. Betty Gay of Salem and Rep. Dan Wolf of Newbury.
Watch the debate on HB 1251 on the General Court of NH website, starting at 10:49 am.
