New Hampshire General Court
The New Hampshire General Court is the state's bicameral legislature, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and is among the largest legislative bodies in the world by membership. Its entries reach back to 2004 and record bills it passed on school policy, including requirements placed on staff regarding what they must disclose about students.
2026 Events (2)
New Hampshire Gov. Ayotte signed SB 430 compelling school staff to disclose students' gender identity to parents on request
On July 7, 2026, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed Senate Bill 430, requiring all school employees to answer parents' or guardians' written requests about their children "completely and honestly" — including a child's gender identity — generally within 10 business days. The law legislatively overrides the New Hampshire Supreme Court's 2024 "Jane Doe" decision, which held that parents have no fundamental right to dictate how schools handle such information, and effectively compels the disclosure of transgender and gender-nonconforming students to their parents. It provides narrow exceptions where disclosure is barred by other law or where a staff member makes a good-faith determination that it would place the student at imminent risk of abuse or neglect.
New Hampshire Gov. Ayotte signed HB323, barring student IDs from voter registration and the polls
On April 3, 2026, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 323, eliminating high school and college identification cards — including out-of-state student IDs — as acceptable proof of identity to register to vote or cast a ballot, effective June 2, 2026. The law limits qualifying identification to a driver's license from any state, a non-driver state ID card, a U.S. armed-services ID, or a U.S. passport or passport card. Republican sponsors said the change closed a security gap; Democrats and voting-rights advocates said it burdens young voters who lack ready access to the remaining forms of ID.
2025 Events (2)
New Hampshire Gov. Ayotte signed HB377 banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors
On August 1, 2025, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 377 into law, prohibiting healthcare providers from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapy to transgender minors under 18, with an exception for minors already receiving such treatment. The New Hampshire General Court passed the bill 202-161 in the House and 16-8 in the Senate on the conference report. The law took effect January 1, 2026, making New Hampshire the first state in New England to ban this category of gender-affirming care for minors.
New Hampshire Gov. Ayotte signed HB712 banning gender-affirming surgeries for transgender minors
On August 1, 2025, New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 712 into law, banning gender-affirming chest surgeries for transgender minors under 18, with an exception allowing minors already receiving care to continue. The law was signed alongside companion bill HB377, a puberty-blocker and hormone-therapy ban, together making New Hampshire the first state in New England to ban gender-affirming care for minors. It took effect January 1, 2026, and authorizes board-of-medicine discipline and civil suits by affected minors against providers.
2024 Events (3)
New Hampshire enacted HB1205 barring transgender girls from girls' school sports in grades 5-12
On July 19, 2024, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB1205 (Chapter 228) into law, requiring interscholastic and club athletic teams for grades 5 through 12 to be designated male, female, or coed and barring students of "the male sex" from teams designated for females — a birth-certificate-based eligibility standard that, as written, excludes transgender girls from girls' teams regardless of their gender identity. Eligibility is set by the student's biological sex on a birth certificate issued at or near birth, with other proof required at the family's expense if unavailable. The law creates private rights of action against schools and athletic associations that fail to comply and took effect August 18, 2024.
New Hampshire enacted HB619 barring genital gender-reassignment surgery on minors
On July 19, 2024, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB619 (Chapter 213) into law, barring physicians from performing genital gender-reassignment surgery on anyone under 18 in the state and prohibiting referrals to out-of-state providers for the same procedures. The law classifies violations as unprofessional conduct subject to medical-board discipline and creates a private right of action allowing an affected minor or their parent to sue the treating physician, with carve-outs for reconstructive procedures, disorders of sex development, and male circumcision. It took effect January 1, 2025.
New Hampshire Gov. Sununu signed HB 1312, mandating LGBTQ+ curriculum notice and parental disclosure of students' gender identity
On July 19, 2024, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 1312 into law, amending RSA 186:11 to require school districts to give parents at least two weeks' written notice, with an opt-out, before teaching any curriculum covering sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression. The law also bars districts from any policy that lets staff withhold from a parent information about a student's gender identity or health, effectively compelling disclosure regardless of the student's wishes. The Republican-controlled New Hampshire General Court had passed the measure in narrow, party-line votes earlier that year.
2004 Events (1)
New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson signed SB 427, denying legal recognition to out-of-state same-sex marriages
On May 14, 2004, New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson signed Senate Bill 427 (Chapter 100, Laws of 2004), enacting a statutory bar to legal recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages in New Hampshire. The act repealed and reenacted RSA 457:3 to withhold legal validity from any out-of-state marriage prohibited under New Hampshire law — effectively targeting same-sex marriages from states such as Massachusetts, which had begun issuing same-sex marriage licenses three days later. The legislation also created a legislative-executive-judicial commission to study all aspects of same-sex civil marriage and its legal equivalents, with a final report due December 1, 2005.