NewBostonPost reporter Tom Joyce says if Governor Chris Sununu (R) signs House Bill 1205 into law, then "transgender" athletes in New Hampshire public school, grades 5-12, will only be allowed to compete on and against sports teams designated for their biological sex.
The Republican-led Senate recently voted 13-10 along party lines in favor of the bill that would require schools to designate all teams as either girls, boys, or coed, with eligibility determined based on students' birth certificates.
Gov. Sununu has not said whether he will sign the bill, but "he has hinted that it's the type of bill that he would sign," Joyce notes. "As he said, he thinks that safety and fairness need to be prioritized in girls' sports, and he thinks that as long as the wording is proper, this is something that he could get behind."
Meanwhile this week, "Maelle" Jacques, a male who competes against females, is up for the NHIAA Division III girls' outdoor track and field state title.
"This is the same guy who won the Division II state championship in the winter for high jump, so he has an opportunity to win that again," Joyce relays. "This is a state that has had the problem for years, and it's actually doing something about the problem."
Gov. Sununu, the second governor in New Hampshire history to be elected to a fourth term, announced last summer that he would not run for a fifth term. So as his time in office nears its end, Joyce thinks advancing the conservative cause by signing HB 1205 into law would be "a nice going-away present."
The measure would go into effect 30 days later.
Nationwide, Joyce says Republican voters and politicians and Democratic voters are increasingly "fed up with this stuff," and he believes males' days in female sports are numbered.
"I think the message to someone like Jacques is enjoy it while it lasts, because it's not going to last forever," the reporter submits.
