Eileen Bilodeau

New Hampshire House Bill 1299 is a deeply troubling proposal that would write discrimination into law under the guise of “biological sex” classifications. Rather than truly protecting privacy or safety, HB 1299 would give schools, businesses, and government entities legal permission to exclude, segregate, or deny services to transgender and nonbinary residents in bathrooms, locker rooms, sports, and other essential spaces — and then shield those actions from being challenged as unlawful discrimination. This isn’t a harmless clarification; it’s a policy that legitimizes the barrier-building and stigmatization of people simply for their gender identity. It also sets up a legal and practical nightmare: enforcing “biological sex” distinctions would inevitably require invasive scrutiny or reliance on arbitrary standards that degrade privacy and dignity, fueling harassment of anyone who doesn’t conform to narrow gender expectations. By codifying discrimination as permissible conduct, HB 1299 would undermine New Hampshire’s civil-rights framework, erode trust in public institutions, and send a message that some people’s safety and humanity are negotiable — a chilling step backward for a state that should be committed to equality, fairness, and respect for all of its residents.