Transgendered woman testifies on ‘bathroom bill’

By JASON CLAFFEY

CONCORD — An anti-discrimination bill for transgendered individuals on Thursday drew emotional testimony from supporters — including two Somersworth residents — as well as stern warnings from critics who argued it could open “Pandora’s box.”

After a three-hour hearing on HB 415, which the House recently passed, but Gov. John Lynch did not endorse, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously recommending killing it. The bill’s fate will be determined next week when the Senate takes it up.

The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, would make it illegal to discriminate against a person based on “gender identity or expression.” The main intent, supporters say, is to offer transgendered individuals the same protections given to other minority groups in the workplace and housing market.

The state’s Commission for Human Rights cannot pursue cases on behalf of transgendered individuals because that group isn’t included in discrimination laws, according to commission Executive Director Joni Esperian, who testified in support of the bill.

“We have no basis to offer them protection,” she said.

Many transgendered individuals, like Sarah Blanchette, of Somersworth, testified they were ridiculed, and — as in Blanchette’s case — fired when they revealed their status to their employers. The way the laws are written, some said they were unable to pursue lawsuits.

But a number of parents who testified against the bill said it would lead to unsafe or inappropriate situations at schools. Boys could be allowed to play on girls’ athletic teams, and vice-versa, and male coaches would be able to use girls’ locker rooms.

“This will open Pandora’s box,” said Pamela Colantuono, of Manchester, the mother of a third-grader.

Colantuono, like many who testified in opposition to the bill, said transgendered individuals should not be discriminated against, but that other avenues, like labor laws, should be changed to ensure protection. The phrase “gender identity or expression” is too loose of a term, and a higher standard is needed, they argued.

Fuller Clark blasted those who “frivolously” nicknamed HB 415 “the bathroom bill.” Republican lawmakers have argued the bill would allow a person of either gender to use any bathroom they please and lead to unsafe scenarios, like a male sex offender standing in a women’s bathroom as long as he pleases.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Fuller Clark testified.

She emphasized criminal laws like disorderly conduct are already in place to prosecute inappropriate bathroom behavior.

Lisa Mottet, a civil rights attorney who specializes in transgender issues, said illegal bathroom behavior “would remain illegal” if the bill is passed.

Fuller Clark said 13 states and about 100 municipalities have anti-discrimination transgender laws in place. She presented letters from human rights commissions in Colorado, Washington, and Iowa that said there have been no reported instances of bathroom misconduct in those states.

Pointing to those other states with transgender laws, Mottet said: “New Hampshire isn’t breaking new ground here.”

Testifying in opposition to the bill, Rep. Fran Wendelboe, D-New Hampton, said it would lead to “unintended consequences.” Those with “mischief at heart” who use bathrooms and locker rooms inappropriately would get some “cover” if the bill is passed, she said.

Somersworth resident Muriel Ring, the mother of a transgendered daughter, called the focus on bathrooms “ridiculous.”

“It’s not about the bathroom. It’s about finding a place to live,” Ring testified.

Her daughter, born Ayshe, began living as a man after college. Now named Luke, he recently moved to San Francisco, Calif., because there is a more welcoming transgender community there, Ring said.

“I want our state to protect him as it does my other two children,” she testified.

Blanchette, the second Somersworth resident who testified, said she was fired from her informational technology job in 2004 after she told management she would be living as a woman.

“I had been a good person. A good employee. But because I was different, they were allowed to get rid of me,” said Blanchette, 57, who underwent a surgical procedure when she transitioned from a man to a woman.

At one point during the hearing, Blanchette got up to go to the bathroom.

“I used the ladies room,” she said, adding nobody seemed to be bothered.

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