{"id":635,"date":"2026-05-18T14:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T14:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=635"},"modified":"2026-05-18T14:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T14:33:51","slug":"will-new-hampshires-bathroom-bill-get-vetoed-for-a-fourth-time-and-then-a-fifth-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=635","title":{"rendered":"Will New Hampshire\u2019s \u2018bathroom bill\u2019 get vetoed for a fourth time? And then a fifth time?"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>The New Hampshire Legislature has sent a bill to Governor Kelly Ayotte for final approval that would allow transgender people to be excluded from restrooms, locker rooms, sports teams, and other settings corresponding with their gender identity \u2014 a carbon copy of legislation Ayotte has already vetoed twice and her predecessor, former Governor Chris Sununu, vetoed as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=633\">Trump moves to dismiss $10 billion suit over leak of tax returns after reports of a resolution<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Senate Bill 552 seeks to create exceptions to the state\u2019s 2018 Law Against Discrimination, which legally protects residents from being discriminated against on the basis of characteristics like race, religion, disability, and \u201cgender identity.\u201d SB 552 wouldn\u2019t necessarily outlaw transgender women and men from entering women\u2019s and men\u2019s restrooms, but it would allow the owners of those restrooms to forbid them from entering. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>Similarly, it would allow schools to create policies that exclude transgender people from participating on the sports team that fits their gender identity, and it would allow gyms to exclude transgender people from the locker rooms associated with their gender identity. Lastly, it would allow prisons to place transgender people in jails meant for their sex at birth rather than their gender identity.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get N.H. Morning Report<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A weekday newsletter delivering the N.H. news you need to know right to your inbox.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The most recently passed bill is nearly identical to 2024\u2019s House Bill 396, 2025\u2019s House Bill 148, and 2026\u2019s Senate Bill 268. That makes this the fourth time in three years that the legislation has passed both chambers of the Legislature.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In 2024, Sununu, who was then nearing the end of his governorship, vetoed HB 396, writing in a  that it \u201cruns contrary to New Hampshire\u2019s Live Free or Die spirit,\u201d and \u201cseeks to solve problems that have not presented themselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A few months after Ayotte took office in 2025, she vetoed HB 148. She agreed with the lawmakers\u2019 sentiment, saying \u201cthere are important and legitimate privacy and safety concerns raised by biological males using places such as female locker rooms and being placed in female correctional facilities.\u201d Still, she argued, \u201cat the same time, I see that House Bill 148 is overly broad and impractical to enforce, potentially creating an exclusionary environment for some of our citizens.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Lawmakers tried a third time earlier this year with SB 268. Ayotte again vetoed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI vetoed a nearly identical bill to this one last year,\u201d Ayotte wrote at the time. \u201cI made it clear this issue needed to be addressed in a thoughtful, narrow way that protects the privacy, safety, and rights of all Granite Staters. Unfortunately, there is minimal difference between Senate Bill 268 and the bill I vetoed last year, which Governor Sununu vetoed the year prior.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=631\">Game 47: Red Sox at Royals lineups and notes<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Now, Ayotte is being asked to consider the legislation for a third time. She will have the options of signing it into law, vetoing it, or allowing it to become law without her signature. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And that might not be the end of it. Lawmakers in both chambers have also passed a separate bill \u2014 House Bill 1442 \u2014 that is also a verbatim copy of the other four bills. That bill, however, was amended during Senate negotiations, which means it will need to return to the House for approval before being sent to Ayotte.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In this instance, House lawmakers did attempt significant changes, but those changes have been wiped away. For example, the original version of the bill attempted to legally define male and female \u2014 Democrats had criticized previous years\u2019 bills for not defining gender \u2014 based on whether their reproductive systems produce ova or sperm, whether they have a Y chromosome or, in some instances, by their birth certificate. To address intersex people, earlier bill language referenced the SRY gene, which is present during fetal development of male-typical anatomy. However, these changes were removed from the bill through a Senate amendment and the current version of the legislation is includes the same language as SB 552 and SB 268.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The House now has the options of concurring with the Senate\u2019s amendments, rejecting the bill outright, or initiating negotiations for a compromise through the committee of conference process. If the House concurs, the bill will be sent to Ayotte where she will be asked to weigh in on it for a fifth time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><i>William Skipworth<\/i><i> covers health for the <\/i><i>New Hampshire Bulletin<\/i><i>. Prior to joining the Bulletin, he wrote for Forbes, PolitiFact, and newspapers across the country, including in Texas, Missouri, and Indiana.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><i>New Hampshire Bulletin is part of <\/i><i>States Newsroom<\/i><i>, the nation\u2019s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=629\">Boston College women\u2019s lacrosse knocked out of NCAA tournament in second round<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Bill 552 seeks to create exceptions to the state\u2019s anti-discrimination and allow schools and private business owners to ban transgender men and women from gender-specific bathrooms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Will New Hampshire\u2019s \u2018bathroom bill\u2019 get vetoed for a fourth time? 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