Despite a gubernatorial veto and rejections from federal courts in 2025, New Hampshire Republican legislators are trying again this year to restrict LGBTQ-inclusion in education through legislation.

Reports Seacoastonline:

Gov. Kelly Ayotte vetoed a so-called “book ban” bill in June, but Republican lawmakers are back with a pared down version they hope she’ll support. The new version drops the list of materials that would be banned and retains only the requirement that schools tell parents how they can challenge information deemed harmful to children.

Its sponsor, Sen. Tim Lang of Sanbornton, said his bill would forbid only material that existing law deems harmful to children, such as anything sexually explicit.

“It’s not a ban bill at all,” Lang said. “It’s just a procedural bill that establishes a procedure, again [that] when a parent makes a request to the school district that request has a definitive timeline on response.”

It’s unclear if that will be enough for Ayotte, who said she vetoed the prior version because parents can already limit what their child sees in school.

At least three other Republican-backed bills in 2026 are near repeats from prior years.

Lawmakers are trying for at least the third time to separate locker rooms and bathrooms in schools and prisons by biological sex instead of how a person identifies. Ayotte and former Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed prior versions. Ayotte called the version she vetoed “overly broad and impractical to enforce.”

Federal courts have temporarily blocked New Hampshire laws that restrict teaching on race and gender and prohibit diversity and equity initiatives in school. Despite the ongoing litigation, lawmakers have refiled similar bills.

One, named for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, would prohibit racial and LGBTQ discussions in schools and would allow lawsuits against school districts and employees who violate the law.

Read the complete Seacoastonline story here.

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