By NANCY MARTLAND, Sugar Hill

I am distraught at the cruelty I see unfolding in NH bills that seem to target transgender people, especially transgender youngsters.  SB272, the “Parents Bill of Rights,” requires that school personnel inform parents of information regarding their kids’ gender identity. This would destroy confidentiality between a student and a teacher, coach or  counselor. It would turn school personnel into informants forced to reveal things that kids do not want revealed.

Conservative leaders and their followers have recently placed transgender kids in their crosshairs. I am not sure why, because so far as I can tell these people are causing no harm. The only reason I can find is a religious objection – that their lives are sinful, and “an abomination.” I do not believe this and I don’t think most Granite Staters do either. We are well known for our live and let live attitude.

Everyone is certainly entitled to their own religious beliefs, but the rest of us do not have to live by them, especially when they are used to target and harm a vulnerable group. Please, recall that the Pilgrims came here to escape being forced to live by somebody else’s religious beliefs. They came to these shores in search of the religious freedom later enshrined in our Constitution. I can only hope that religious freedom prevails in this case and we can all be who we are without fear.

SB272 is fascinating. It enumerates a long list of parental rights, most of which are already enacted into NH statute. They are already the practice within our public schools. What problem exactly are we trying to fix here?

I think I know.

The “Parental Bill of Rights” is a deceitful attempt to give cover to harassment of transgender kids by including it in an otherwise benign list of legally existing rights that schools already observe.

The only specific behaviors named in SB272 relate to transgender youngsters.  If the NH Senate is so concerned that parents be informed of their kids’ behaviors, why is gender identity the only one mentioned? 

My state representative, a sincere and well-meaning fellow, told me he supports the bill because he would want to know if his kids were lonely and afraid and needed his help. A nice sentiment, but what of other behaviors? Sexual activity? Bullying? Risky behavior? SB272 is silent on these matters. Surely if the state’s interest were kids’ welfare, these areas of concern would be included as things parents should know about.

If transgender kids choose not to inform their parents of their gender identity, there is a reason. Parents who cannot accept a child’s identity can reject them, abuse them, harm them physically and emotionally.

Forcing school personnel to betray the trust of these kids by outing them to their parents is cruel and infringes on the privacy of the minor child. For vulnerable youngsters, the presence in their lives of a trusted non-family adult can make a monumental difference. SB272 removes trusted teachers, coaches and counselors from this role at a time when our kids need them the most.

We all want the best for our kids.  There is so much love and hope invested in them. Sadly, some parents reject their kids if they do not conform to their expectations. SB272 puts such kids at risk.

I can only assume that the sponsors of this bill have never had a beloved grandchild come to them, terror and hope in their soft young eyes, and say, “Nanny, I am nonbinary.” Because if they had, there would be only one course for them to take.

To protect that grandchild and all the others who are vulnerable by voting against SB272.

InDepthNH.org takes no position on proposed legislation. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.