News & Commentary

CONCORD, NH – Governor Chris Sununu signed HB 587 into law today, which bans the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy on minors. Conversion therapy, a discriminatory and harmful practice that falsely claims to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, has been rejected by every major professional medical and mental health association. It is premised on the false notion that sexual orientation and gender identity are choices, and its risks are particularly acute for youth.

CONCORD, NH –  Today, Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed HB 1319 into law, protecting transgender individuals across New Hampshire from discrimination in employment, housing and public spaces. The major victory for equality marks the first statewide proactive win on LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections in any state since 2016. New Hampshire is the 19th state in the country - and final state in New England - to explicitly provide comprehensive nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people. It is particularly significant because of the broad Republican support HB 1319 garnered. The measure passed the Republican-controlled Senate by a vote of 14-10 and the Republican-controlled House with an overwhelmingly strong vote of 195-129.

PORTLAND, ME – Today ACLU affiliates in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont filed a lawsuit to require government agencies to turn over records about civil rights violations arising from immigration enforcement in their states. The lawsuit was filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It seeks records concerning interior enforcement operations including Border Patrol checkpoints and bus raids, ICE arrests at courthouses, and the targeted arrests of immigrants’ rights activists.

PLYMOUTH, NH – The New Hampshire Circuit Court has ruled that the border patrol checkpoint that occurred in August 2017 on Interstate 93 in Woodstock, New Hampshire was “unconstitutional under both State and federal law.”  Woodstock is a small town (population 1,374) in the White Mountains—a popular tourist attraction—that is approximately 90 driving miles from the Canadian border. 

CONTACT: ACLU SoCal Communications & Media Advocacy Department, 213-977-5252, [email protected]

CONTACT: Gilles Bissonnette, ACLU-NH Legal Director, 603-227-6678, [email protected]

This is an opinion piece that originally ran on Seacoast Online on Thursday, March 15, 2018 and was co-written by Gilles Bissonnette, ACLU-NH Legal Director and Dan Pontoh ACLU-NH Community Organizer.

CONTACT: Linds Jakows, Freedom New Hampshire Campaign Manager, 602-989-3283, [email protected]                                                

This second letter from ACLU-NH Executive Director Devon Chaffee and NAACP-Seacoast President Rogers Johnson, was sent to the University of New Hampshire Board of Trustees and its Presidential Search Committee in early 2018. The first letter was sent to the UNH Board of Trustees and it's Presidnetial Search Committee in Fall 2017 and ran in the Foster's Daily Democrat on Wednesday, November 15, 2017.