them.us · Delia Curtis , · September 8, 2026
New Hampshire’s Republican Governor Vetoes Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill Yet Again | Them
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New Hampshire’s Republican Governor Vetoes Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill Yet Again
Kelly Ayotte has said that the legislation would be “overly broad and impractical to enforce.”
By Abby Monteil , February 10, 2026
On February 6, New Hampshire’s Republican governor Kelly Ayotte vetoed a bill that would have banned trans people from bathrooms, sporting events, and other spaces that align with their gender identity.
Sponsored by Republican state senators Kevin Avard and Tim Lang, Senate Bill 268 sought to create exceptions to New Hampshire’s nondiscrimination laws, which were updated to prohibit housing, employment, and public space discrimination against trans people in 2018. SB 268 would have redefined “biological sex” as male or female as assigned at birth, allowing both public and private entities to bar trans people from accessing bathrooms, locker rooms, athletic events, and detention facilities under this definition. The legislation is virtually identical to HB 148, another anti-trans bill that Ayotte vetoed in 2025.
According to the Movement Advancement Project, nearly all of the United States’ anti-trans bathroom bans apply to government and other publicly-owned facilities. Only a few states, such as Montana and Florida, permit private establishments to enforce these bans. If passed, SB 268 would have enacted one of the country’s most expansive anti-trans bans.
“I made it clear that this issue needed to be addressed in a thoughtful, narrow way that protects the privacy, safety, and rights of all Granite Staters,” Ayotte said in a statement. “Unfortunately, there is minimal difference between Senate Bill 268 and the bill I vetoed last year, which [previous New Hampshire] Governor [Chris] Sununu vetoed the year prior.”
Ayotte agreed with some of HB 148’s provisions when she vetoed the bill in July 2025, writing, “I believe there are important and legitimate privacy and safety concerns raised by biological males using places such as female locker rooms and being placed in female correctional facilities.”
However, the governor ultimately concluded that the bill was too “overly broad and impractical to enforce,” and could lead to “an exclusionary environment for some of our citizens.”
In December, Republicans failed to get the votes necessary to override Ayotte’s veto.
Aimee Terravechia, Executive Director of the New Hampshire LGBTQ+ advocacy group 603 Equality, praised Ayotte’s veto of SB 268 in a February 6 statement to GLAD Law.
“This is a huge relief for every transgender or nonconforming person in New Hampshire,” Terravechia said. “In a time of unrelenting legislative attacks and misinformation campaigns around transgender people and their rights, Gov. Ayotte’s veto affirms the basic rights and dignity for all Granite Staters… Bathroom bans simply have no place in New Hampshire.”
Meanwhile, Ayotte’s veto is already drawing ire from the right wing. The Daily Caller, for instance, framed the story as the governor “sid[ing] with trans activists.”
US Representative Seth Moulton speaks at the Massachusetts Democratic Party convention on May 30, 2026. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)