CONCORD, NH — Across the statewide media landscape, Granite Staters have called for lawmakers to reject SB 272, New Hampshire’s version of so-called “parental rights” legislation aimed at forcibly outing trans students.
The bill is just one part of a nationwide push by conservative lawmakers at demonizing the trans community to mobilize the most extreme elements of their base and demonstrate momentum to their donors.
ROUNDUP:
SB 272 oversteps basic safety concerns and specifically targets trans and gender nonconforming students. Young people know their family dynamics better than any school staff member. If a student is having a problem discussing a personal topic or issue with a parent, the answer isn’t to use the government to force teachers and counselors to squeal on that student to that parent. The answer is to have mechanisms of support in place to enable better judgment-free communication between the student and the parent.
Forcing school personnel to betray the trust of these kids by outing them to their parents is cruel and infringes on the privacy of the minor child. For vulnerable youngsters, the presence in their lives of a trusted non-family adult can make a monumental difference. SB272 removes trusted teachers, coaches and counselors from this role at a time when our kids need them the most.
Seacoast Online: Hirschkop: New Hampshire Senate Bill 272 is harmful to LGBTQ+ youth
Under the guise of parental rights, the New Hampshire legislature is taking aim at LGBTQ youth. The legislature is considering SB 272, an insidious bill that would require schools to surveil students and report to parents if school staff detect even a whiff of gender-nonconformity. It would also require schools to track and report which students attend even one meeting of a Gender-Sexuality Alliance, or GSA. As the Executive Director of Seacoast Outright, a community organization with a mission of creating a safe space for youth to explore the topics of gender and sexuality in a welcoming and understanding environment, I know how harmful it would be to mandate government interference in these sensitive situations.
“It’s not like there’s a tidal wave of these occurrences happening in our schools, and when it does happen, our staff completely understands that the relationship between home and school is important,” said (Robert) Malay, whose SAU covers the Chesterfield, Harrisville, Keene, Marlborough, Marlow, Nelson and Westmoreland school districts.
“When things like this are mandated or put into a law, it gets difficult for teachers,” Malay said. “You’re asking educators to make a determination of what’s more important, the safety of that child or their job.”
Concord Monitor: Opinion: ‘Parental rights’ bill would harm LGBTQ+ children in NH
Children who love their parents very much are also the most afraid of hurting them. It takes tremendous courage to come out to those you love the most.
The only exception in SB 272 is that information does not have to be shared with known abusers. More often than not, the fact that a child hasn’t shared with their parents what they are feeling is because they are not emotionally ready to do so. Forced “outing” by those they trust will cause harm to the child. It is crucial that a child or young person is respected and supported and provided with a safe place and person in order to find their own way and in their own time to come out to their parents.
Seacoast Online: Opposing New Hampshire SB272 protects the rights of everyone in the family: Letters
SB 272 oversteps basic safety concerns and specifically targets trans and gender nonconforming students. Young people know their family dynamics better than any school staff member. If a student is having a problem discussing a personal topic or issue with a parent, the answer isn’t to use the government to force teachers and counselors to squeal on that student to that parent. The answer is to have mechanisms of support in place to enable better judgment-free communication between the student and the parent.
I am distraught at the cruelty I see unfolding in NH bills that seem to target transgender people, especially transgender youngsters. SB272, the “Parents Bill of Rights,” requires that school personnel inform parents of information regarding their kids’ gender identity. This would destroy confidentiality between a student and a teacher, coach or counselor. It would turn school personnel into informants forced to reveal things that kids do not want revealed.