Governor Ayotte again vetoes ‘poorly drafted’ N.H. bill that sought sex-separated bathrooms

For the fourth time since taking office last year, New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte has vetoed a bill that would have allowed bathrooms and certain other sensitive spaces to be separated on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity.

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Ayotte, a Republican, saidWednesday that this proposal was “nearly identical” to one she vetoed last month and two others she vetoed before that.

“These bills are overly broad, poorly drafted, and create the potential for substantial litigation,” she said in a statement explaining her latest veto.

Republican lawmakers, who hold a comfortable majority in the New Hampshire House and a super-majority in the New Hampshire Senate, have repeatedly approved these proposals despite the opposition of Ayotte and her GOP predecessor, Chris Sununu, who vetoed a similar so-called “bathroom bill” in 2024.

Sununu signed changes into state law in 2018 and in 2019 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity. The newly vetoed proposal would have added carve-outs to allow public and private entities statewide to separate certain spaces — including multi-person bathrooms and locker rooms, detention centers, and sports in which males generally possess an advantage — by biological sex, not gender, without fear of violating the anti-discrimination law.

The proposal defined “biological sex” as “the male and female biological sexes,” without elaborating.

While proponents said this legislation would promote safety for women and girls, opponents said it would encourage discrimination by authorizing organizations to bar transgender people from facilities that align with their gender identity.

Aimee Terravechia, executive director of 603 Equality, an LGBTQ advocacy group in New Hampshire, said this legislation is discriminatory and unfairly targets transgender people and the queer community.

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“We’re thankful that the Governor continues to understand that bills like these make it harder for all women to access safe and private spaces, increase fear and divisiveness, and create added barriers for parents of young children and folks with mobility issues who may require assistance from care providers when navigating public restrooms,” Terravechia said. “We’re hopeful that this veto will put an end to these divisionary tactics.”

Meanwhile, some conservatives have cited Ayotte’s vetoes as a basis to criticize the governor, who is up for reelection this fall to a second two-year term.

Lisa Mazur, a Republican state representative from Goffstown, noted that Ayotte recently praised the US Supreme Court’s ruling that allows states to separate school athletics on the basis of biological sex. But the governor has “missed an opportunity to protect those same women in locker rooms, bathrooms and prisons,” she said.

Mazur said she and her fellow Republicans in the New Hampshire House will keep standing for “biological reality” and combating “the delusion of radical gender ideology.”

“This legislation will be back,” she said, “and I hope the Governor takes some time to reconsider her position.”

Ayotte has now vetoed 44 bills that the New Hampshire Legislature approved during the 2025-2025 term. That’s significantly more than Sununu vetoed during any single term when Republicans held legislative majorities.

Lawmakers will meet later this year to weigh potentially overriding this and the dozens of other vetoes Ayotte has issued this year. To succeed, they will need a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber.

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