New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte vetoed Senate Bill 268 on Friday, marking the third consecutive year Republican leaders have rejected legislation seeking to restrict transgender access to gender-aligned facilities. The bill would have allowed businesses, schools, and prisons to separate restrooms, locker rooms, and sports teams based on sex assigned at birth rather than gender identity.

Ayotte cited nearly identical language to 2024’s HB 396 and 2025’s HB 148, both previously vetoed by her and former Governor Chris Sununu. While acknowledging privacy concerns about shared spaces, she argued the legislation was “overly broad” and risked creating “an exclusionary environment” under the state’s 2018 anti-discrimination law. Sununu had called similar bills contrary to New Hampshire’s “Live Free or Die” ethos.

The repeated vetoes underscore tensions within New Hampshire’s Republican Party between social conservatives and pragmatic leaders. Businesses monitoring LGBTQ+ policies face continued uncertainty as lawmakers fail to override vetoes or craft narrower compromises. With no enforcement mechanism for existing gender identity protections, legal challenges may shape future debates.