The NH Suicide Prevention Council (NHSPC) is lobbying against protecting children from genital mutilation and preserving girls’ sports and private spaces.
At their April meeting, The NHSPC approved a position statement opposing gender-identity bills on Gov. Chris Sununu’s desk:
- HB619 banning genital mutilation surgeries for children under 18.
- HB396 allowing organizations to recognize sex in classifying people in athletics, bathrooms, locker rooms, and prisons.
- HB1205 prohibiting boys from competing in girls’ school sports.
- HB1312 requiring that teachers give parents two-week notice before lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The Position on Stigmatization of LGBTQ+ Persons in Legislation states:
Specifically, removing supportive spaces including in families, schools, and communities for LGBTQ+ youth increases suicide risk, while supporting LBTQ+ youth and families through access to affirming spaces and necessary health care decreases this risk.
Related: The Trans Suicide Myth and Blackmail Politics
The council’s claims are based on an online survey about suicide ideation solicited by the Trevor Project, an advocacy group pushing the medical transition of children. They support their claim that youth benefit from gender-affirming health care by citing a discredited study by Dianna Tordoff, which tracked subjects receiving hormonal interventions for just a year and based its claims of success on a comparison to a control group that dwindled from 92 to only seven subjects.
Despite the claim that they use a “data-driven approach to inform council decision making,” the statement ignores data from the England Health Service’s Cass Review, as well as the findings of many other countries and medical associations about the dangers of gender-affirming care.
The Cass Review concluded that although the suicide rate is higher for trans-identifying youth it is still rare, and “Suicide risk appears to be comparable to other young people with a similar range of health and psychosocial challenges.”
Contrary to the NHSPC statement, the Cass Review also found that there is no sound evidence that social transitioning and medical interventions improve mental health. “There is not a reliable evidence base upon which to make clinical decisions, or for children and their families to make informed choices.”
Even discussing possible legislation to save girls’ sports and protect children from what every systematic review has concluded are harmful, experimental treatments can cause suicidal ideation, according to the council’s statement:
The introduction of these bills this session has already caused harm to the LGBTQ+ youth in our state. No young person should have to hear conversations that paint their identities as inherently problematic.
The NHSPC ignores warnings from experts that they are endangering youth by teaching them that they are suicidal. A 2017 suicide prevention guide approved by all of the major LGBTQ organizations, including the Trevor Project, states:
Suicide deaths are almost always the result of multiple overlapping causes. Linking suicide directly to external factors like bullying, discrimination, or anti-LGBT laws can normalize suicide by suggesting that it is a natural reaction to such experiences or laws.
The NHSPC was established in 2008. By law, its membership includes representatives from pro child-transing organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the NH Disabilities Rights Center, the Endowment for Health, and New Futures. Dartmouth Health’s Injury Prevention Center also has a seat. Dartmouth Health uses the trans suicide myth to coerce lawmakers and parents to allow them to administer puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children.
The NHSPC did not respond to a request for comment.
