New Hampshire made history in 2018 for passing legislation to protect trans people despite Republican control of the house, senate and governorship. Now, the state is backpedaling.
Other New England states need to be extremely vigilant lest this type of thing starts spreading to those states - most of which are currently protective and politically blue. This shows, very sadly, that fundamental rights, once won, need to be aggressively protected or they will be taken away when the political climate shifts. Nothing is guaranteed.
NH has always been the Florida of the north. This is disappointing but not surprising based on long term historical context.
VT has an independent spirit, Maine is split between deep backwoods bigots and everyone on the coast. MA, CT, and RI are all highly educated populations that generally push back on this type of bigotry en masse.
Yes these are gross generalizations, but it explains a bunch of why NH is the way it is, it's been a safe space for bigots in the north for a while.
Look up the Free State Project and if you want the Free Town Project that proceeded it. The way Libertarians organized to infiltrate the state and its government, which already wasn't great, and make things worse is sadly well documented. After that started NH never really had a chance.
It is worthwhile to read Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling’s book, A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears). It puts New Hampshire into perspective and makes me glad my trans son lives in Vermont.
It's an excellent book and a great jumping off point for further reading. New Hampshire is a beautiful state that has a lot of political problems. But I am so, so glad that I live in Massachusetts.
The part I appreciate the most is the parents of trans kids demanding an audience with the Gov. This is the way we show them our humanity and the love we have for our kids. I was a public school teacher whose classroom was a safe haven for all the marginalized kids in the school. I know for a fact that my classroom saved lives. Isn't that what it's all about: Saving lives; letting all kids know that we see them and that they are welcomed. "Yes" is the only answer I come up with.
This should be a wake up call. How did we get here? We’re hemorrhaging support. Why is that you think ummm idk maybe because we’re isolating ourselves and unwilling to compromise. Tell me again how awful Gavin Newsom is? He’s resisting Trump better than we have been able to do or any other dem for that matter. With the current Battle of Los Angeles our issues look like a luxury. It doesn’t have to be that way. We should be out resisting ICE and helping immigrants. That’s how you build alliances. In Portland there were protests over the detainment of a Trans asylum seeker. It wasn’t just trans people protesting. We need to reach out and support one another. That’s how we make friends. Going back to NH though it’s a cautionary tale, we had support and lost it. Why? It’s deeper than people picking on us
I also find it hard to believe that people switched to Republican because of Democratic support of a sports ban. That strikes me as cherry picking to think trans issues matter to the public more than they do. We can continue with this stay the course everything is a slippery slope but it doesn’t seem to be working. As far as trans issues as you know they’re not all lumped together. Someone who supports sports bans may also oppose blocking minors transitioning. Does that make them not an ally?
"As far as trans issues as you know they’re not all lumped together. "
Yes, they are. They are all of them only based in the idea we do not even really exist, or have any right to. That we are really the mental illness of actually cisgender people, or, are really just willfully perverse and perverting.
You have no point because you have no idea what is really going on or why!
It’s happening because Republicans are wielding the issue as a political tool to try and make democrats look crazy. I hate them but their strategies have been effective. Part of that is because the ways in which we’ve jumped to insults and disavowing people who may have questions about stuff like sports turns would be allies into potential enemies. “Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy With My Kids” has a whole section of sports philosophy and the complexities of gender and fairness (spoiler, the author is on our side, but there’s a lot of factors to be considered). We are losing a numbers game and we need to play it better. Republican Politicians absolutely want to erase us. That is not popular with the electorate though. The way we win is by showing the depths of their depravity not through compromising our own image, but by demonstrating the absurdity of their position. Once we have the seats, THAT is when we push our elected officials further on issues like sports. We have to stop the bleeding before we can counter pressure.
"the ways in which we’ve jumped to insults and disavowing people who may have questions about stuff like sports turns would be allies into potential enemies. "
Nonsense. Those making obviously nonfactual statements maybe -- actual questions, no. Refusal to accept actual answers proven by measured facts -- yes, how do such diehards not deserve those necessarily child abusive insults?
"We are losing a numbers game and we need to play it better. " <-- Uhuh. Conceding anything to them is no part of "playing it better".
"but by demonstrating the absurdity of their position." <-- Uhuh. Laughing at -- insulting even -- the absurdity of their position is a good part of "stopping the bleeding". It is counter pressure.
I'm talking about situations like the one in the interview, where a congressman expressed concerns about the sports issue but supports kids being able to get care. He ultimately voted the way we want on care but we need to be having the conversations about complex issues like sports in private and with compassion. None of my intent is about concession, it's about where and how we fight our battles. Some things like healthcare are hard lines that need to be fought in the open and with arguments like parental rights and keeping government out of medical decisions. The sad fact of the matter is that we need to twice as good to get half as far. When we take the bait respond with vitriol of our own then it lets the right continue to dictate the narrative because the only ones who feel good about being on our side are those who already agree wholeheartedly with us. The art of persuasion takes time, work, and empathy. If we don't take time to validate some concerns then why should others validate ours? It is far easier for them to write us off as radicals. I live in Ohio and started transitioning in 2013. If I had written off everyone who expressed the slightest bit of complex emotions around every trans issue I care about then I would have far fewer friends and family in my life. There's always work to be done, but they are far more supportive of me and trans issues in general than if I had cast them out from my life.
So I read the article and it talks about transgender identity being valid. Transgender identity, I’m trans myself and I support that sentiment obviously. There is a key point there transgender existence. Let’s jump to sports now one could then conclude that transgender people should be their own category. One could argue that’s reasonable. So that’s one issue, transgender medical care should be given then because transgender identity is valid. Kinda separates the issues there a bit so not exactly lumped together then?
Was that more extreme than other Democratic party losses nationwide? You mentioned Montana which I do find intriguing because Montana at least historically had a live and let live mentality kinda a “ leave me and my property alone mindset”. We’re a big country and I am intrigued by the effect different states cultures and ethos have on local politics. We talk about things in national terms but it’s really the micro that should be looked at. I applaud your wife for working with Dems. I see a lot of people knocking them and that’s not the way to succeed. I think there is an opening for us to support protests against ICE and build alliances
I’m just pointing out the current course is not working and it continually gets worse. People with half a brain tend to evaluate when their strategy fails. However in the trans community it’s stay the course everything or death. Existence is not getting everything you want, non trans people deal with that every day. Ask someone assigned female at birth. So I would ask you this, are you willing to compromise if it saves lives? Our pigheadedness on this topic reeks of male privilege. I know I said a bad word there but it’s only accurate. Every other minority group deals with adversity, it’s time we put our big girl panties on. To be clear I’m arguing with you because I think your stubbornness is going to lead to the downfall of us all.
The transmisogyny inherent in this comment is unbelievable. Standing up for oneself is not male behavior, and you know damn well you wouldn't level this accusation at identical behavior from cis feminists. Every time we compromise it just ratchets things further against us. Puberty blockers were a compromise. Now these monsters are banning those. We were allowed to compete in the Olympics for decades, now these monsters claim we're supersoldiers who endanger cis women with our very presence but we're also too weak for the military.
I'm not compromising my way into an early grave and if refusing to concede the simple truth that I'm a woman is what you consider male behavior, I think you should go hang out with the Caitlyn Jenners and Blaire Whites of the world.
"Puberty blockers were a compromise. Now these monsters are banning those. We were allowed to compete in the Olympics for decades, now these monsters claim we're supersoldiers who endanger cis women with our very presence but we're also too weak for the military."
Indeed! "We" deserve none of this, "they" deserve only to fail.
You have no point. What is ~getting worse~ has not been any worse than it is now than it has been for decades -- longer than most of us have been alive. Social Conservatives have never accepted us -- NEVER! Now they have power. They are doing what they were always going to do when they had power. The solution is remove them from power, not for them to have some of what they want.
Which lie do they tell about us that you think we should accept? You've mooted we should throw every MtF transgender athlete under the bus. Why that one?
"However in the trans community it’s stay the course everything or death." <-- Full acceptance of transgender people as being as human beings is required. Why should less be acceptable?
"Existence is not getting everything you want, non trans people deal with that every day." <-- So what? That has nothing to do with it -- you are saying we should compromise with out literally mortal enemies because they have a point. No, they do not.
"Ask someone assigned female at birth." <-- So what? What misogyny should they accept? How will you so instruct them?
"So I would ask you this, are you willing to compromise if it saves lives?" <-- There is no such thing possible.
"Our pigheadedness on this topic reeks of male privilege. I know I said a bad word there but it’s only accurate." <-- No, it is your psychiatric problem that you think you are not really an human being -- and, if you are who I think you are -- you think you are "actually" a male with a psychiatric problem. I don't think Rosa Parks was showing any "male privilege" at that, but plainly you do.
"Every other minority group deals with adversity" <-- Not by accepting it as what they are worth, all they are fit for.
"it’s time we put our big girl panties on." <-- Then do it yourself. Admit what being transgender really is, and, that there is no reason for MtF athletes who underwent blocking from first of Tanner 2 without male puberty at all, to be excluded from women's sports categories at all. That even a MtF athlete who underwent a complete male puberty, who has no more than 2 years of HRT under their belt, should not be excluded from women's categories at all.
"To be clear I’m arguing with you because I think your stubbornness is going to lead to the downfall of us all. " <-- To be clear, you are one of the nastiest transmed "pick mes" on Reddit . . . if you are who I think you are.
What you can not do, is name any lie the Social Conservatives tell of us which we should "compromise" about and say ourselves also the lie that they are actually right.
But I do invite you to try again, to name a lie the Social Conservatives tell about us and which we compromise on with them to say is instead true.
What lives do you pretend that saves and how? How does that work?
Well, it has been heading this way. They have now outed themselves as the hypocrites of the New England. "Live Free or Die" is no longer a universal statement of moral independence.
If a child is injured (or god forbid killed) by a hostile parent due to the forced outing, can the injured child (or that child’s estate) sue the school or teacher(s) that forced outed them?
Oh New Hampshire. The Texas of New England.
My dad used to call them ‘the Alabama of the North’
New Hampshire is such a stain on New England.
Other New England states need to be extremely vigilant lest this type of thing starts spreading to those states - most of which are currently protective and politically blue. This shows, very sadly, that fundamental rights, once won, need to be aggressively protected or they will be taken away when the political climate shifts. Nothing is guaranteed.
NH has always been the Florida of the north. This is disappointing but not surprising based on long term historical context.
VT has an independent spirit, Maine is split between deep backwoods bigots and everyone on the coast. MA, CT, and RI are all highly educated populations that generally push back on this type of bigotry en masse.
Yes these are gross generalizations, but it explains a bunch of why NH is the way it is, it's been a safe space for bigots in the north for a while.
Look up the Free State Project and if you want the Free Town Project that proceeded it. The way Libertarians organized to infiltrate the state and its government, which already wasn't great, and make things worse is sadly well documented. After that started NH never really had a chance.
It is worthwhile to read Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling’s book, A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear: The Utopian Plot to Liberate an American Town (and Some Bears). It puts New Hampshire into perspective and makes me glad my trans son lives in Vermont.
It's an excellent book and a great jumping off point for further reading. New Hampshire is a beautiful state that has a lot of political problems. But I am so, so glad that I live in Massachusetts.
Uhuh. Sure. We should be so lucky -- and hope for it! -- to be governed by people who put liberty first.
If you think the modern libertarian party has anything to do with liberty first I have some very bad news.
If you think Nick Gillespie speaks for me, then you don't know me at all. And you don't ; ^ )
So much for "live free or due" I guess.
"Live Free" only applies when it's MY freedom to oppress others who, in MY view, NEED to be oppressed.
The part I appreciate the most is the parents of trans kids demanding an audience with the Gov. This is the way we show them our humanity and the love we have for our kids. I was a public school teacher whose classroom was a safe haven for all the marginalized kids in the school. I know for a fact that my classroom saved lives. Isn't that what it's all about: Saving lives; letting all kids know that we see them and that they are welcomed. "Yes" is the only answer I come up with.
I'm not too surprised. New Hampshire has become the most backward of New England states.
This should be a wake up call. How did we get here? We’re hemorrhaging support. Why is that you think ummm idk maybe because we’re isolating ourselves and unwilling to compromise. Tell me again how awful Gavin Newsom is? He’s resisting Trump better than we have been able to do or any other dem for that matter. With the current Battle of Los Angeles our issues look like a luxury. It doesn’t have to be that way. We should be out resisting ICE and helping immigrants. That’s how you build alliances. In Portland there were protests over the detainment of a Trans asylum seeker. It wasn’t just trans people protesting. We need to reach out and support one another. That’s how we make friends. Going back to NH though it’s a cautionary tale, we had support and lost it. Why? It’s deeper than people picking on us
Actually, they tried compromising in New Hampshire. Over a dozen dems voted for a sports ban there in 2024.
They suffered the worst defeat of any state democratic party in 2024 and now they are passing every anti-trans bill imaginable.
Meanwhile in Montana, my wife fought hard and all democrats held solid on transgender rights.
Montana dems gained 10 seats, the most of any state house Dems.
I also find it hard to believe that people switched to Republican because of Democratic support of a sports ban. That strikes me as cherry picking to think trans issues matter to the public more than they do. We can continue with this stay the course everything is a slippery slope but it doesn’t seem to be working. As far as trans issues as you know they’re not all lumped together. Someone who supports sports bans may also oppose blocking minors transitioning. Does that make them not an ally?
"As far as trans issues as you know they’re not all lumped together. "
Yes, they are. They are all of them only based in the idea we do not even really exist, or have any right to. That we are really the mental illness of actually cisgender people, or, are really just willfully perverse and perverting.
You have no point because you have no idea what is really going on or why!
https://www.readtpa.com/p/the-quote-that-reveals-whats-really
None of this is happening because "we went too far", and none of this is happening because we wouldn't "compromise".
It’s happening because Republicans are wielding the issue as a political tool to try and make democrats look crazy. I hate them but their strategies have been effective. Part of that is because the ways in which we’ve jumped to insults and disavowing people who may have questions about stuff like sports turns would be allies into potential enemies. “Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy With My Kids” has a whole section of sports philosophy and the complexities of gender and fairness (spoiler, the author is on our side, but there’s a lot of factors to be considered). We are losing a numbers game and we need to play it better. Republican Politicians absolutely want to erase us. That is not popular with the electorate though. The way we win is by showing the depths of their depravity not through compromising our own image, but by demonstrating the absurdity of their position. Once we have the seats, THAT is when we push our elected officials further on issues like sports. We have to stop the bleeding before we can counter pressure.
"the ways in which we’ve jumped to insults and disavowing people who may have questions about stuff like sports turns would be allies into potential enemies. "
Nonsense. Those making obviously nonfactual statements maybe -- actual questions, no. Refusal to accept actual answers proven by measured facts -- yes, how do such diehards not deserve those necessarily child abusive insults?
"We are losing a numbers game and we need to play it better. " <-- Uhuh. Conceding anything to them is no part of "playing it better".
"but by demonstrating the absurdity of their position." <-- Uhuh. Laughing at -- insulting even -- the absurdity of their position is a good part of "stopping the bleeding". It is counter pressure.
I'm talking about situations like the one in the interview, where a congressman expressed concerns about the sports issue but supports kids being able to get care. He ultimately voted the way we want on care but we need to be having the conversations about complex issues like sports in private and with compassion. None of my intent is about concession, it's about where and how we fight our battles. Some things like healthcare are hard lines that need to be fought in the open and with arguments like parental rights and keeping government out of medical decisions. The sad fact of the matter is that we need to twice as good to get half as far. When we take the bait respond with vitriol of our own then it lets the right continue to dictate the narrative because the only ones who feel good about being on our side are those who already agree wholeheartedly with us. The art of persuasion takes time, work, and empathy. If we don't take time to validate some concerns then why should others validate ours? It is far easier for them to write us off as radicals. I live in Ohio and started transitioning in 2013. If I had written off everyone who expressed the slightest bit of complex emotions around every trans issue I care about then I would have far fewer friends and family in my life. There's always work to be done, but they are far more supportive of me and trans issues in general than if I had cast them out from my life.
So I read the article and it talks about transgender identity being valid. Transgender identity, I’m trans myself and I support that sentiment obviously. There is a key point there transgender existence. Let’s jump to sports now one could then conclude that transgender people should be their own category. One could argue that’s reasonable. So that’s one issue, transgender medical care should be given then because transgender identity is valid. Kinda separates the issues there a bit so not exactly lumped together then?
Possibly you are only unwise?
"Let’s jump to sports now one could then conclude that transgender people should be their own category. One could argue that’s reasonable"
Only an uninformed or insane person could argue that. Which are you?
Was that more extreme than other Democratic party losses nationwide? You mentioned Montana which I do find intriguing because Montana at least historically had a live and let live mentality kinda a “ leave me and my property alone mindset”. We’re a big country and I am intrigued by the effect different states cultures and ethos have on local politics. We talk about things in national terms but it’s really the micro that should be looked at. I applaud your wife for working with Dems. I see a lot of people knocking them and that’s not the way to succeed. I think there is an opening for us to support protests against ICE and build alliances
"This should be ... picking on us "
Uhuh. I'd like to see you get away with pointing out what part of our existing we should compromise on ?
I’m just pointing out the current course is not working and it continually gets worse. People with half a brain tend to evaluate when their strategy fails. However in the trans community it’s stay the course everything or death. Existence is not getting everything you want, non trans people deal with that every day. Ask someone assigned female at birth. So I would ask you this, are you willing to compromise if it saves lives? Our pigheadedness on this topic reeks of male privilege. I know I said a bad word there but it’s only accurate. Every other minority group deals with adversity, it’s time we put our big girl panties on. To be clear I’m arguing with you because I think your stubbornness is going to lead to the downfall of us all.
The transmisogyny inherent in this comment is unbelievable. Standing up for oneself is not male behavior, and you know damn well you wouldn't level this accusation at identical behavior from cis feminists. Every time we compromise it just ratchets things further against us. Puberty blockers were a compromise. Now these monsters are banning those. We were allowed to compete in the Olympics for decades, now these monsters claim we're supersoldiers who endanger cis women with our very presence but we're also too weak for the military.
I'm not compromising my way into an early grave and if refusing to concede the simple truth that I'm a woman is what you consider male behavior, I think you should go hang out with the Caitlyn Jenners and Blaire Whites of the world.
"Puberty blockers were a compromise. Now these monsters are banning those. We were allowed to compete in the Olympics for decades, now these monsters claim we're supersoldiers who endanger cis women with our very presence but we're also too weak for the military."
Indeed! "We" deserve none of this, "they" deserve only to fail.
You have no point. What is ~getting worse~ has not been any worse than it is now than it has been for decades -- longer than most of us have been alive. Social Conservatives have never accepted us -- NEVER! Now they have power. They are doing what they were always going to do when they had power. The solution is remove them from power, not for them to have some of what they want.
Which lie do they tell about us that you think we should accept? You've mooted we should throw every MtF transgender athlete under the bus. Why that one?
"However in the trans community it’s stay the course everything or death." <-- Full acceptance of transgender people as being as human beings is required. Why should less be acceptable?
"Existence is not getting everything you want, non trans people deal with that every day." <-- So what? That has nothing to do with it -- you are saying we should compromise with out literally mortal enemies because they have a point. No, they do not.
"Ask someone assigned female at birth." <-- So what? What misogyny should they accept? How will you so instruct them?
"So I would ask you this, are you willing to compromise if it saves lives?" <-- There is no such thing possible.
"Our pigheadedness on this topic reeks of male privilege. I know I said a bad word there but it’s only accurate." <-- No, it is your psychiatric problem that you think you are not really an human being -- and, if you are who I think you are -- you think you are "actually" a male with a psychiatric problem. I don't think Rosa Parks was showing any "male privilege" at that, but plainly you do.
"Every other minority group deals with adversity" <-- Not by accepting it as what they are worth, all they are fit for.
"it’s time we put our big girl panties on." <-- Then do it yourself. Admit what being transgender really is, and, that there is no reason for MtF athletes who underwent blocking from first of Tanner 2 without male puberty at all, to be excluded from women's sports categories at all. That even a MtF athlete who underwent a complete male puberty, who has no more than 2 years of HRT under their belt, should not be excluded from women's categories at all.
"To be clear I’m arguing with you because I think your stubbornness is going to lead to the downfall of us all. " <-- To be clear, you are one of the nastiest transmed "pick mes" on Reddit . . . if you are who I think you are.
What you can not do, is name any lie the Social Conservatives tell of us which we should "compromise" about and say ourselves also the lie that they are actually right.
But I do invite you to try again, to name a lie the Social Conservatives tell about us and which we compromise on with them to say is instead true.
What lives do you pretend that saves and how? How does that work?
Texas of the north. Shame!
I have no problem saying fuck my home state. Such a disappointment.
"Live Free or Die" ... guess they're really pushing the die part of that statement now.
As someone originally from NH and still loves the beauty of the state, this is deeply disappointing.
These holyier than thou extremists must be voted out - They are a stain on our society
I would love to research each of their backgrounds and see what we find.
Well, it has been heading this way. They have now outed themselves as the hypocrites of the New England. "Live Free or Die" is no longer a universal statement of moral independence.
If a child is injured (or god forbid killed) by a hostile parent due to the forced outing, can the injured child (or that child’s estate) sue the school or teacher(s) that forced outed them?
Ashamed of my state and my governor. Governor Ayotte touts herself as “reasonable”, but she’s the same rot as the rest of the GOP. Shame on her.
Magneto was right!
Whatever happened to Live Free or Die? Guess freedom’s dead now in New Hampshire. You are not Welcome.