Advocates for LGBTQ+ Freedom Statements on Proposed Healthcare Bans for Trans Young People
CONCORD, NH (March 3, 2024) - Today, the New Hampshire House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee heard two bills that would ban medically necessary, life-saving care that transgender young people need.
HB 377 would make prescribing, dispensing, administering, or otherwise supplying puberty blockers or hormone replacement therapy to any transgender youth a class B felony. HB 712 would ban breast surgery for any transgender teenager, and subject medical providers who make referrals or provide the service subject to discipline.
“Just like abortion bans, attacks on health care for transgender people have always been about one thing: control. Banning critical and life-saving health care for transgender people in New Hampshire will have devastating consequences for health, freedoms, and dignity in the Granite State,” said Rebecca Hart Holder, President of Reproductive Equity Now. “These attacks are not occurring in a vacuum. They are part of a larger plan to strip people of their ability to make deeply personal decisions about their bodies and to determine their own futures. These anti-LGBTQ+ bills go against a core Granite State value to live freely without political interference. It’s the responsibility of the committee to reject this clear attempt to strip away health care access and personal freedoms.”
“All transgender young people in New Hampshire should be able to get the doctor-prescribed medical care they need. Patients, families, and providers must be the ones making these decisions, not politicians. We know that when young people get the healthcare they need, they are able to thrive in their communities. Transgender young people are no different. These bills cruelly single out this care when it is performed for the purpose of a gender transition, although non-transgender young people also sometimes need the same exact care. That’s discrimination,” said Linds Jakows, co-founder, 603 Equality.
"I’ve known since I was 12 that my chest didn’t belong to me. Every day, I stood in front of the mirror, watching puberty reshape my body in devastating ways, wishing for the impossible—that my breasts would disappear. Instead, I suffered through watching them grow, not only deepening my mental distress but affecting my physical health. I wasn’t given the options that trans youth are lucky to have access to today, but in one month, I will finally receive top surgery after 20 years of suffering. I am sure of one thing—my feelings about my body have remained the same since I was 12. Young people know who they are, and denying them care only forces them to endure unnecessary pain. Our job isn’t to question them—it’s to listen, support, and ensure they have access to the care they need to survive," said Emryn Lessie, Board Member, 603 Equality.
“NH Outright serves LGBTQ+ young people across the Granite State. Our young people want to grow up in safety and community with access to all of the spaces and places they need to thrive. Access to essential medical care supported by their parents, and medical professionals is an essential piece of that equation. Stress about losing access to life saving medical care has a big impact on the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth in our state. To our youth and families, we will not stop fighting for your access to the appropriate care you deserve. Your wholeness and dignity is not up for debate,” said Rev. Heidi Carrington Heath, Executive Director, NH Outright.
“When my son was a teenager, we were fortunate to be able to get him the healthcare he needed to transition to happily live as a young man. We made that decision as a family with the care of providers who allowed my son to thrive. As a registered nurse, I know that what they prescribed was evidence-based, best-practice care that is validated by every major medical association. It’s chilling to think about parents like me, who only want the best care for their teenager, being criminalized,” said Diana George, mother of a now-23-year-old transgender man who accessed top surgery at age 16.
“I stopped my transition in the 1990s, after over a year living my truth. It wasn’t because I regretted transitioning - it was due to both employment discrimination, losing work as a musician and music teacher, and also due to denial of trans-related medical care. I was able to resume my transition almost 2 decades later. I always knew who I was, and how I wanted to live in the world. Many people who choose to stop a medical transition have complex, unique reasons, like discrimination, feeling at home in a more nonbinary identity, or not feeling like their transition requires medical assistance. I respect everyone’s unique journey, but no one should seek to use the law to stop others from having the freedom to medically transition, just because it wasn’t right for them,” said Shana Aisenberg.
Amanda Azad, Policy Director at the ACLU of New Hampshire, said, “We cannot allow the government to stick their noses into personal health care decisions that should rightfully be made by patients, families, and medical professionals. These bills fly against New Hampshire’s values of freedom and privacy and would substitute the government’s judgment for that of loving families, young people, and experienced doctors and professionals. These bans are part of a barrage of discriminatory attacks by politicians against transgender people to invoke panic and fear, scapegoating an entire community.”
“At the age of 19 years old, I underwent a double mastectomy top surgery on January 14th 2025. My consultation for this surgery took place at 17 years old in early September 2022. Despite the popular idea that these procedures are easy to get, getting approved by insurance and scheduled for elective surgery takes a long time. This is one of countless reasons why bills like HB 712 and HB 377 are ill-informed. Legislators continuously proposing legislation that targets our individual rights as Americans isn’t just unjust, but an utter waste of resources," said AJ Coletti, member of NH Youth Movement. "Actively pushing for folks’ private medical business to be put in the hands of anyone but themselves or their doctors goes against the values we hold as Granite Staters. We should be working together to improve the lives of all NH residents, not targeting specific groups of people based on hateful rhetoric and not facts.”
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