Republicans’ push to allow businesses and government entities to classify people by biological sex instead of gender identity has landed on the governor’s desk once again.

State senators on Thursday approved House Bill 148, which would allow — but not mandate — the separation of bathrooms, locker rooms, sports and correctional facilities by biological sex. It now awaits the governor’s signature for the second time in two years.

It’s unclear how Ayotte will evaluate the issue, though she has supported keeping transgender athletes out of girls’ sports. Former governor Chris Sununu vetoed this bill last year, saying it sought to solve problems that had not manifested themselves in New Hampshire.

Lawmakers considering this legislation and related bills this year have approached it by weighing the rights of women and transgender people and whether those can coexist.

Conservatives in the State House have argued that women’s safety must prevail.

“Women are humans as well,” said Sen. Regina Birdsell, a Republican from Hampstead. “They have rights, and they have a right to their own privacy. Women are being marginalized in this environment, and as far as I’m concerned, this has to stop.”

Conversely, Democrats like Concord Sen. Tara Reardon said the policy unfairly targets a specific group of people. She called the move “dehumanizing” and “poisonous.”

“People deserve to feel safe... All people deserve to feel safe,” Reardon said. “Does that mean that only applies to people that we get to choose whether they’re safe or not? Because someone does not conform to the societal expectation that we have set for them — or you have set for them — this safety does not extend to them as well?”

The vote passed along party lines, 16-8, after drawing attention from people across the state.

Passionate arguments filled several lengthy public hearings on the matter. People who supported HB 148 said allowing transgender women or biological men into private spaces threatens women’s safety, while the effort has drawn ire from LGBTQ constituents and advocates who argued it’d endanger the rights and safety of transgender people.

Bans on gender-related healthcare still in the works

A Senate committee voted to modify a bill banning puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors so that children who currently take them can stay on the treatment.

Rep. Lisa Mazur, the Goffstown Republican sponsoring House Bill 377, had initially included a sunset date in the bill’s language, setting a deadline by which patients would’ve had to wean off of those treatments.

The Senate’s version would also downgrade the punishment for violating the proposed law from a felony to disciplinary action by state regulators.

Mazur’s other proposal, House Bill 712, would outlaw breast removal and augmentation surgeries for transgender minors.

Both are set to come before the full Senate for a vote soon, though the exact date has not yet been scheduled.

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.