New Hampshire’s Anti-Trans “Bathroom Bill” Vetoed for the Fourth Time
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed Senate Bill 552 on June 22, 2026, rejecting a bill that would have carved out exceptions to New Hampshire’s 2018 Law Against Discrimination, which has protected residents from discrimination based on gender identity for eight years.
SB 552 would have allowed business owners to bar transgender people from restrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity, permitted sports teams to exclude transgender girls and women from female teams, and let jails and prisons classify inmates by sex at birth. The bill would not have required any of these actions, but would have made them legally permissible.
“Trying the same thing again isn’t going to get a different result.”
Gov. Kelly Ayotte, veto message, June 22, 2026
This is the fourth veto of near-identical legislation in New Hampshire in three years. Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed House Bill 396 in 2024. Ayotte, who took office in January 2025, has now vetoed a version of this bill twice in 2026 alone, plus once in 2025.
Why Four Vetoes Haven’t Ended the Fight
The New Hampshire Legislature has continued advancing this legislation despite repeated executive rejections. Each new version has been largely identical to the last, which Ayotte acknowledged directly in her veto message: “There is minimal difference between this bill, the bill I vetoed earlier this year, the one I vetoed last year, and the one vetoed in 2024.”
Opponents of the bill have pointed out practical problems beyond civil rights concerns. Masculine-appearing cisgender women have reportedly been accused of being transgender under similar policies elsewhere, meaning enforcement harms people the bill’s sponsors claim to protect. Business owners have no feasible way to determine someone’s sex at birth before they enter a restroom.
Supporters of SB 552 cited a recent incident at a Concord Planet Fitness location as evidence of safety concerns. Opponents, including Parker Tirrell and other advocates who delivered flowers and postcards to Ayotte’s office on June 16, argued the bill creates more problems than it solves and inflicts direct harm on transgender Granite Staters.
Ayotte has repeatedly told the Legislature she wants a “thoughtful, narrow” approach that “protects the privacy, safety, and rights of all Granite Staters.” So far, the Legislature has not produced a bill that meets that standard in her view.
What you can do now
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Call Gov. Ayotte’s office at (603) 271-2121 and thank her for the veto. Tell her you support keeping New Hampshire’s 2018 anti-discrimination protections intact for transgender residents, and ask her to hold the line if the Legislature sends another version.
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Contact your New Hampshire state representative. Find yours at gencourt.state.nh.us and tell them to stop re-advancing SB 552-style legislation and to protect the 2018 Law Against Discrimination.
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Contact the New Hampshire Senate President at (603) 271-2111 and tell them the Legislature’s repeated passage of vetoed anti-trans bills wastes legislative time and harms transgender constituents.
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Support New Hampshire LGBTQ+ advocacy directly. GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), which has tracked this legislation, can be reached at glad.org to find volunteer and testimony opportunities if the Legislature advances a fifth version.
Sources
New Hampshire Bulletin: Ayotte Vetoes Anti-Trans Senate Bill 552 June 2026
New Hampshire RSA 354-A: Law Against Discrimination Including Gender Identity
New Hampshire General Court: Senate Bill 552 Full Text