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 the state's education statute RSA 186:11. The measure had cleared the Republican-led New Hampshire General Court in narrow, party-line votes — the House 186-185 on March 14 and the Senate 13-10 on May 16 — before reaching the governor's desk. The law took effect roughly two months later, 60 days after signing.

The law works in two ways. First, it expands the existing "objectionable materials" opt-out so that districts must give parents at least two weeks' advance written notice before teaching any curriculum covering human sexuality, sexual education, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression, and must allow parents to opt their children out of that instruction. Second, it bars districts from adopting any policy, procedure, or student-support form that permits staff to withhold from a parent information about a student's mental, emotional, or physical health, sexuality, or a change in related services; staff may not encourage or permit a student to keep such information from a parent, subject only to a narrow exception where disclosure would risk abuse, abandonment, or neglect.

Opponents described the law as singling out LGBTQ+ content and students. NEA-New Hampshire, the state's largest educators' union, said the measure would "chill classroom conversations" and leave teachers guessing which material triggers the notice requirement, comparing it to a "banned concepts" law courts had found unconstitutional. The ACLU of New Hampshire and LGBTQ+ advocates characterized the disclosure provision as a "forced outing" measure that compels school staff to reveal a student's gender identity or sexual orientation to parents regardless of the student's wishes or safety.