Alexandra Carter

This bill is not about protecting privacy or safety—it’s about legitimizing discrimination under the thin veil of “biological sex.” It is a betrayal of our state’s commitment to dignity, equality, and the recognition of every person’s right to live authentically. As someone who believes deeply in the inherent worth of every individual—no matter their gender identity—this bill is more than just a policy disagreement. It is personal. Let’s be clear: this bill gives public and private institutions permission to erase, exclude, and endanger transgender and nonbinary people, all in the name of “classification.” But what it’s truly doing is codifying fear and ignorance. It tells trans kids they’re not welcome in the locker rooms where their classmates laugh and learn teamwork. It tells trans women that they are a threat to public safety, that their very existence is something to be managed, separated, and scrutinized. It tells incarcerated trans people—among the most vulnerable in our society—that their safety is not worth protecting. This is not neutrality. This is not balance. This is harm. I want to ask the sponsors and supporters of this bill: Have you spoken with a trans teenager who just wants to play sports with their friends? Have you looked into the eyes of a young person who dreads going to school because they’re afraid of being forced into the wrong bathroom? Have you sat with a trans person who has been sexually assaulted in a detention facility because their identity was ignored? Because I have. And once you hear those stories—really hear them—you understand that this is not about policy. It’s about people. It’s about lives. I grew up believing that New Hampshire was a place of individual freedom and fierce independence. That we took care of each other, respected differences, and understood that government should protect the vulnerable—not further marginalize them. This bill betrays those values. Let me be clear: Classifying people by “biological sex” in this context is not neutral. It is weaponized language, divorced from science, that ignores the lived realities of trans and nonbinary people. It reduces complex, human identities to arbitrary categories that serve no purpose other than to exclude. And what’s worse—it emboldens discrimination, under the guise of state-sanctioned legitimacy. We should be working to ensure that all Granite Staters feel safe, respected, and seen—not singling out a minority group for separation and suspicion. If passed, this bill will not make us safer. It will only spread fear, shame, and further alienation. This is not who we are. And I refuse to stand silently while this state contemplates turning its back on some of its most courageous and resilient residents. I urge every legislator with a conscience to reject Senate Bill 268—not just with a vote, but with a voice. Stand up. Speak out. Choose compassion over fear. Choose equality over exclusion. Trans rights are human rights. And I will fight for them with everything I have.