June 16, 2026 • 24 mins
With two anti-LGBTQ+ bills on Gov. Ayotte's desk right smack in the middle of Pride month, Liz is trying so hard to not make a pride and prejudice joke...
Liz talks with Aimee Terravechia (Executive Director of 603 Equality) and welcomes back Heidi Carrington Heath (Executive Director of New Hampshire Outright) to talk about the onslaught of attacks this year -- and what we should know and do right now.
If you haven't listened to Heidi's first episode (LGBTQ & As) on New Hampshire Has Issues from July 2025, go do that right now. Seriously.
Become a monthly supporter of NH Has Issues
Subscribe to the NEW NH Has Issues Substack
Links:
- 603 Equality - Current Actions
- Donate to 603 Equality
- New Hampshire Outright
- Donate to New Hampshire Outright
- 2026 New Hampshire Pride Guide
- Will New Hampshire’s ‘bathroom bill’ get vetoed for a fourth time? And then a fifth time? (NH Bulletin)
- After Ayotte’s vetoes, here’s where the new ‘bathroom bills’ stand (Concord Monitor)
- Legislation about gender identity is back on the table in the NH State House (NHPR)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Liz Canada (00:00):
Aimee, I am very intimidated to pronounce your
last name because I've watchedmany people, including uh the
chair of committees, plural, uh,mispronounce it.
So can you pronounce it for me?
Teravecchia.
Teravecchia.
You perfect.
Perfect on the first try.
I did it.
I'm ready to chair a committee.
(00:20):
I'm so excited.
Here I come, New HampshireHouse andor Senate.
No, that's not true.
Aimee Terravechia (00:25):
Sign you up.
Liz Canada (00:26):
No, please don't.
No, do not vote for Liz Canada.
Aimee Terravechia (00:30):
We aren't endorsing candidates, but I
might make an exception for you,Liz.
Liz Canada (00:33):
No, absolutely not.
Absolutely not.
We're cutting all of this.
Absolutely not.
Under no circumstances.
But other people should run foroffice.
You're listening to NewHampshire Has Its Jews, and I am
(00:56):
your host, Liz Canada, and I amin the present.
I am recording this on Monday,June 15th.
And my interview with Heidi andAimee, we recorded this on
Monday, June 15th, like threehours ago.
Usually when I record with aguest, I tell them up front that
(01:16):
like I don't know when theepisode's gonna go live because
it takes me a while to edit.
And I have a full-time jobthat's not this.
Although, if you would like tosupport the show, visit
patreon.com slash NHS Issues.
And I have a family and and adog named Gus.
I have a lot happening, and sothe podcast, as much as I
absolutely love it, I do have alimited number of hours that I
(01:40):
get to work on it.
But in this case, we learnedliterally minutes before we
hopped on to record thatGovernor Ayotte received two
anti-LGBTQ bills on her desktoday.
And as we'll talk about in theepisode, uh, she has five days
to take action.
And so I did not want to waituntil next week or next month
(02:02):
for this episode to get to you.
And in fact, multiple times inthis episode, I will say, Well,
whenever this episode goes livein the future, I hope there's
good news.
Well, I I don't know what'sgonna happen.
Uh because I'm telling you inreal time that those bills are
on her desk uh right now.
I mean, assuming you're notlistening to this i in the
(02:23):
future, I suppose.
But on Monday, June 15th, andwhen this goes live on Tuesday,
June 16th, Governor Ayotte hasthose two bills on her desk.
There are links in the shownotes, the episode description
about uh 603 equality, about NewHampshire outright, about these
bills.
And as we talk about, it's alsoPride Month.
(02:44):
Uh, and I want to make surethat you have as much
information as possible to takethe actions we all need to take
to support the LGBTQ pluscommunity, including our young
people in our state.
Thank you so much forlistening.
Well, welcome to New HampshireHas Issues, the podcast that
dares to ask how proud should webe in New Hampshire?
(03:06):
I am your host, Liz Candida,and joining me today is a blast
from the past, fan favorite, theexecutive director of New
Hampshire outright, HeidiCarrington Heath, and the
executive director of 603Equality, Aimee Terravecchia.
You got it.
We did it.
Okay.
Well, that took 20 minutes ofthe show.
We went from a mini show to ahow do we pronounce a name show.
Aimee Terravechia (03:30):
You know, it I think you're doing a public
service because there's so manypeople who struggle with it.
Liz Canada (03:35):
Well, welcome to the show, Aimee.
Welcome back, Heidi.
Thanks for having us.
Yeah, I'm so happy to be here.
Heidi, you've been here beforeto talk about New Hampshire
outright.
Aimee, you're the executivedirector of 603 Equality.
Why don't you start by justtelling us about your
organization and what y'all do?
Aimee Terravechia (03:51):
Happy to.
So we are New Hampshire's onlyand first statewide advocacy
organization fighting forLGBTQIA rights.
Uh, which means that I haveessentially been living in the
state house uh since January.
Um which yeah, yeah.
Liz Canada (04:07):
Literally background.
Here's the dog.
Woof.
Yes.
Aimee Terravechia (04:10):
Yes.
Uh but yeah, so we've beenfighting to try and affect
policy outcomes in NewHampshire.
Make sure New Hampshire is aNew Hampshire for everyone and
not just a select few.
Liz Canada (04:19):
It is such important work and it's been pretty hard
work, I think, this past year.
And for the past few years,frankly, it's been really hard
here in New Hampshire.
So thank you for all the workthat you do.
For both of you.
Because Heidi, I'm sure it ishard for you as well and been
challenging with what's going onin in New Hampshire and the
Statehouse and beyond.
So I'm hoping to start with asimple question.
(04:42):
June is Pride Month.
So what is pride?
Aimee Terravechia (04:50):
I I can tell you what pride means to me.
Um, but we can also talk abouthistory and pride too.
There's so many different waysto answer that question.
Um, but for me especially,having spent January through May
in the State House, pride is avery lovely uh vibe switch, you
know, being able to be incommunity and celebrate and be
(05:13):
among you know really affirmingfolks.
That unfortunately is notalways the experience that I
have in the statehouse.
So it is a very nice switch andit's a necessary way to like
reconnect and re-engage with adifferent side of the work.
It fills my cup, it brings alot of joy.
And obviously, the history ofpride is a very political one
too.
So, like holding that dualityof like the joy and the work
(05:37):
that we have to do, I think it'sa good reminder for me.
Heidi Carrington Heath (05:40):
I generally make it a rule in my
life not to have to follow AimeeTerravechia, and yet here I
have signed my book up to nowhave to do that.
So, yes to all of that.
Um, and I will say, especiallyfor us at New Hampshire
outright, um, Pride is a reallywonderful time centered on
(06:02):
community and connection andjoy.
And it is a chance for ouryoung people to get to see the
big, wide community that theyhave who loves them and supports
them and is fighting with themand for them, particularly so
given the tenor at theStatehouse.
I was with you, Liz, almost ayear ago on the nose at this
(06:26):
time of the year.
We had just finished Pride andI was making some asks of you
then that we'll likely make ofyou again, because we are back
here in a very similar placewhere we were a year ago.
And so it is more importantthan it's ever been for our
young people to get to see andhear and experience what pride
(06:46):
can be.
Um, I always think of one ofour dads at the first pride
after his kiddo came out, heldhis kiddo up on his shoulders
and said, Look around, these areyour people.
And that's pride.
And as Aimee said, it is alsopolitical.
It is our bold rebellion andact of liberation.
Liz Canada (07:07):
So all of that sounds wonderful and hard and
beautiful and important.
And what is going on in theStatehouse, friends?
Because it feels a bit like uhuh maybe perhaps dare I say the
opposite of all of that.
So you've both sort of alludedto being there a lot, fighting
for a lot of things.
(07:27):
There's been an abundance ofanti-LGBTQ bills this year,
including, for example, billstargeting flags in schools.
So, like, what is happening?
Aimee, can you can you start byjust explaining what the I'll
bleep myself out.
What the bleep is happening inthe statehouse.
You're you're not even bleepingyourself in post.
(07:47):
You're doing it live.
No, I'm doing it now, but thebleep is happening.
That way I don't have to findthe sound.
Bleep.
Aimee Terravechia (07:54):
That's great.
Um, unfortunately, what'shappening in the state house is
is a lot of badness this year.
Garbage.
Um, we saw 22 anti-LGBTQ billsproposed in the New Hampshire
State House.
Yes.
And that's double from lastyear.
We had 12 last year that wewere fighting against as an
organization.
Holy smokes.
It's rough.
(08:14):
It's rough.
And um, sadly, a lot of themare like in addition to being
discriminatory, just like whollyunoriginal too.
Um, so like rinse and repeatlegislation from last year,
similar bills to what's going onthis year, like six nearly
identical bathroom and lockerroom bans, for instance.
You mentioned a flag ban bill,lots of school censorship bills,
(08:36):
a forced outing bill.
The good news here is that outof those 22, there's only four
left that we're really hyperfocused on to try and stop.
A lot of them have beendefeated or have been, um, their
harm has been reduced a littlebit.
So those four are the last fourum for this session.
(08:57):
So I'm hopeful.
I'm I'm really proud of ourcommunity for showing up and
testifying.
Um, we've done a lot of reallyhard work together, and there's
a little little bit more workleft to do as we also celebrate
pride.
Liz Canada (09:11):
Yeah, right.
And right before we hopped onhere to record, we just got word
that the governor has two ofthose bills on her desk right
now.
So I'm not sure when this isgonna go live.
I'm guessing it'll go liveafter she takes action because
she has five days once the billshit her desk.
She has to take action in someway.
(09:32):
Three choices she has.
One is to sign the bill, turnit into law.
That would be a bad idea.
Two would be to do nothing andlet the time expire and then it
becomes law.
Also terrible, shouldn't dothat.
And her third choice is to vetothe bills.
So within the next five days,she has to take one of those
(09:54):
three actions now that those twobills are on her desk.
So I hope, listeners of thefuture, that there's good news
out there and that when I do mylittle voiceover, I can tell you
that.
That is my hope and dream forus in the future.
Can we talk about what thosetwo bills are?
What what what are we dealingwith here that's on her desk?
Heidi Carrington Heath (10:11):
Aimee, I'll start and then happy to tag
team with you.
Um, currently on her desk isSB552, which is a nearly
identical bathroom and lockerroom bill to what we saw last
session.
Listeners, you may remember thelast time I was here, I asked
the question, New Hampshire hasissues, the podcast that dares
(10:32):
to ask, who really gets to livefree?
And yet again, here we arelooking at an almost identical
piece of legislation.
The good news is a very similarbills have been vetoed now two
sessions in a row by twoseparate governors, including
Governor Ayotte.
And so we are hopeful that shewill do so again and get back to
(10:53):
the important business of NewHampshire.
Aimee, do you want to talkabout 464?
Aimee Terravechia (10:59):
Yeah, happy to.
Um, well, unhappy to.
I guess that's the wrongterminal.
But yeah, 464 is uh a bill thatwould make it harder
essentially to enforce civilrights violations.
So it increases kind of youknow the barrier to both file a
complaint and also the burden ofproof.
Thankfully, that bill has beenamended.
(11:20):
So it's uh it's a little bit umnicer, I guess, than the
original version, but it's stillsomething that we as an
organization are standingagainst.
We don't want to see anybodyhave a harder time bring forth a
civil rights complaint and beable to see actionable steps
taken to remedy that in thestate of New Hampshire.
I think that's just a bad, abad choice and a bad look.
Liz Canada (11:42):
Very bad look.
So those are the two bills thatshe has currently.
And you mentioned that thereare two other ones lurking out
there.
What are those two bills left?
Aimee Terravechia (11:52):
There's one that's another identical
bathroom bill to the one that'son the governor's desk right
now.
Um, and then there's a schoolcensorship bill too, um, which
is SB434.
So SB434 is school censorship,and then HB 1442 is another
identical bathroom bill.
Boo censorship.
Yeah, boo censorship.
We're back to book bands.
(12:12):
We're back to book bands, we'reback to book bands.
Just book bands, Liz.
They've they've made it bigger,better, stronger, worse, I
guess.
Liz Canada (12:19):
This sounds like a horrible infomercial.
But wait, there's more thanjust the book bands.
Okay.
Aimee Terravechia (12:25):
Yeah.
Well, what yeah, it's afar-reaching materials ban.
So it's not just books, it'sdocumentaries, it's it's
curriculum, it could be aworksheet.
Um, anything that could beintroduced in the classroom or
in a school library could bechallenged.
And the way that this looks inpractice is, you know, say um
there's a parent who doesn'twant little Timmy to read
(12:48):
something.
Um, right now they can say, Idon't want Timmy to have access
to this material.
The school's like, cool, weunderstand.
That's fine.
But this new bill, should itbecome law if little Timmy's mom
doesn't want Timmy to readsomething?
That starts a process thatrestricts access to that
material for everyone in theschool district.
So my children would not haveaccess.
(13:09):
Your children would not haveaccess.
Liz Canada (13:11):
Where are those parental rights I heard so much
about?
I know.
Okay.
Yeah.
Um, that sounds really, reallyterrible.
So I mentioned the flag ban,and we're talking about this
curriculum.
So I guess perhaps a questionmight be if there's a rainbow
flag or a book that includes agay character, how likely is it
(13:38):
that a student seeing that orreading it will become gay,
would you say?
Generally speaking, if you hadto guess, are we talking like
nine out of ten times?
How likely is this gonnahappen?
Aimee Terravechia (13:51):
You know, if that if that were how things
would had worked, uh I would Iwould be straight.
Liz Canada (13:57):
So Me too, Aim.
We all would be.
Me too.
I think that's right.
We all would be, yes, indeed.
Aimee Terravechia (14:03):
I and I think you know, there's something to
be said, like being able to seeyourself represented in the
media you consume, in the booksthat you read, in your
community, in your classroom.
Like those are uh such powerfulthings to build an affirming
environment.
And when you exist in anaffirming environment, you know
that you can show up as yourauthentic self.
(14:24):
So, like, I know you asked thatquestion to jest, but also like
the the ability to show up asyour real self is such a
powerful thing.
Obviously, there's there'sgoing to be more people who feel
comfortable to live a lifeoutside of the closet, who feel
comfortable to be authentic intheir communities if we build
affirming communities.
That does not mean that theywere not gay to begin with.
Heidi Carrington Heath (14:47):
And Aimee, you hit on something that
I think is really importantthere, which is there are folks
who might argue, well, like whatdoes a rainbow flag have to do
with me and why is it in mykids' classroom?
Or how necessary really is thisbook or this piece of
literature?
And the reality is it iscritically important for the
young person who might be LGBTQor have questions about their
(15:09):
identity.
But I would suggest to you it'simportant for all of us because
when we create welcoming andaffirming spaces, all of us are
more able to authentically beourselves.
All of us are more able to showup as who we really are.
And that builds stronger,broader communities for every
citizen and every young person,not just the young person who
(15:31):
most needs to see those things.
Liz Canada (15:34):
This feels really overwhelming.
I'm gonna be honest.
Feels like we're having somebig fights in New Hampshire
right now.
What's the vibe for folks?
Like we're on our little callchit-chatting.
Perhaps our uh level of stressis higher than usual, but how is
it how is it just just a touchhigher than usual?
What are you hearing fromfolks?
(15:56):
So, Aimee, you know, you youwork you're an advocacy
organization that representslike the people of of New
Hampshire.
And Heidi, you work directlywith families.
What's the vibe out there?
How are folks feeling withwhat's happening at the
Statehouse, what's happeningacross the country, from the
federal government, and ingeneral this Pride Month.
(16:18):
What's the vibe?
Heidi Carrington Heath (16:19):
I would say, you know, in my arena,
particularly for young people,they're always carrying it with
them right now, even when theydon't talk about it.
I feel sure I said somevariation of this the last time
I was here, too.
But there is a cost to our kidsto swimming in these political
(16:40):
waters when they are watchingthe people in power who are
charged to protect them, whosenumber one job should be their
health and well-being, debatetheir personhood in public,
whether legislation passes or itdoesn't.
They swim in that water all thetime.
And so it's always with them.
They're always carrying it,even when they don't talk about
(17:00):
it, even when we as adults maythink like they seem pretty
okay.
It's there, it's knockingaround.
And similarly, you know, wehave families asking real
material questions about safetyand is it safe for me to
continue to raise my child inNew Hampshire?
And these are folks who loveNew Hampshire, who've lived
their whole lives here, who arebuilding a stronger granite
(17:24):
state, but they are asking realquestions in this moment about
what's the breaking point when Imay have to make a different
choice.
And that breaks my heart.
Um, and so pride this year,more important than ever, more
important than ever for thoseyoung people to see big crowds
of people who show up and say welove you and we're here to
support you.
And for those families, becauseit's hard work to be the parent
(17:47):
or the caregiver of an LGBTQyoung person when you too feel
like your government is notdoing the work that you hope
that they will do to care forand protect the vulnerable.
Aimee Terravechia (17:58):
Echoing everything that you have just
said, Heidi, I think too, likewe've we've spent the past five
months inviting folks to comeand testify against bills in the
statehouse.
And on one occasion, I havethis like very vivid memory of
this young trans woman coming totestify.
And she was excited to be ableto like speak.
(18:19):
Um, you know, she got up, shesaid her piece, the committee
not super friendly, some peoplein the room not super friendly.
And afterwards I checked inwith her in the hallway and she
said, I have had such awonderful experience in New
Hampshire until I entered thisroom.
Um and like, yeah, to like tosee your elected officials, you
(18:45):
know, create such uh anenvironment of divisiveness.
Um, that's hard.
That's hard to show up and seeand hear.
So there's definitely aheaviness that people are
carrying with them, I think,24-7, um, because of what we see
in public discourse, what wesee on news, what we hear about
(19:05):
with legislative updates, and itdoes feel heavy and
overwhelming.
But pride also, in addition tobeing this joyous thing, like I
very much see joy as this act ofresistance.
Like, yes, like that is that isa necessary part of the work.
And being able to, you know,restore yourself, restore your
(19:26):
community to come together andconnect is really, really
important.
Having fun, laughing, like inspite of everything is so
important.
Heidi Carrington Heath (19:36):
We gotta laugh, folks.
My God, yes.
We gotta laugh.
And like, listen, pride is ourcollective reminder that queer
and trans people have alwaysexisted and always will.
Like, no matter how much peoplein power may want that not to
be true or maybe working againstus, we have always been here
(19:56):
and we will always be here.
And so we are gonna show up bigin joy and in community.
Liz Canada (20:03):
Yes.
All right.
My last question for you islet's assume that this goes live
after the first two bills havebeen acted on.
What should someone do?
They're listening to thisepisode, they've listened to
Heidi's episode from last year.
And if you haven't, it's anexcellent sort of starter guide
of like, okay, I don'tunderstand why we're talking
about this all the time.
Can somebody explain it?
(20:24):
That's the episode to go backand listen to.
But what should someone do?
Aimee Terravechia (20:27):
I I have a shameless plug, which is that
you should sign up for ournewsletter and and follow us on
social media because I will putout action alerts about when
people can affect policyoutcomes.
Um, I let people know too aboutthe status of different bills
and legislation.
And we as an organization areworking really, really hard to
(20:48):
shed a light on what thatprocess looks like.
So people feel empowered to getengaged.
New Hampshire's a weird wildwest of a state.
We have a very bizarrestatehouse, but there's also a
lot of points of access that nota lot of people know about.
So, like there's a lot ofopportunities to get engaged.
And I don't want people to notrecognize that they have power
(21:10):
in this process still.
Heidi Carrington Heath (21:11):
So I'm gonna plus one.
Um, my good friend andcolleague, please sign up for
Six or Three Equalitiesnewsletter.
Great action steps for you totake.
Please sign up for NewHampshire outright's newsletter,
especially if you are an LGBTQplus young person or young
adult, or you are someone wholoves an LGBTQ plus young person
or young adult.
We are expanding ourprogramming and our supports all
(21:34):
the time.
And that will continue to betrue.
And I am also going to say,especially for those of us who
are 18 plus in the room, please,please, please speak up.
And please, please, pleasespeak out.
Our kids need to see you, ourkids need to hear you, they need
to know who the safe adults arein their community.
(21:56):
Um, and they need to be able tolook around and say, oh, before
I ever entered this space,before I ever engaged with this
person, they thought about meand they wanted me to know that
I would be welcome here.
I would be safe here.
So please do that.
Liz Canada (22:13):
We need folks to have conversations with one
another.
I know that it can be can feeluncomfortable.
I know that you might not feellike you're saying the perfect
thing, and that's also okay.
We need to have conversationsand not just let things be said
without any sort of response.
That is our responsibility asthe grown-ups who care about
(22:34):
these young people.
Heidi Carrington Heath (22:35):
And I will say just shout out to my
friend Kate, um, who has one ofthe things I said at the
beginning of Pride Season waslearn something.
Like pick you have a question,you want to know more about
something, yeah.
Learn about that topic.
Watch a reel, read an article,do a thing.
Um, and she has been posting inher Instagram stories when she
(22:56):
does that to help encourageother people to do the same
thing.
So I'll add that plug to learna thing and then tell a friend
about it.
Liz Canada (23:04):
Learn a thing, say a thing.
That's what we're asking forhere.
That's it.
Well, thank you both for all ofthe work that you do and for
going into that state house dayin and day out, but also getting
us all organized andunderstanding what is at stake
and how we can get involved.
So thank you both so much foreverything you do for New
Hampshire.
And thank you for being on mylittle podcast.
(23:25):
Thank you so much, Liz.
It's been a pleasure.
Thank you, Liz.
I bet we do this again in thefuture, but I had to put money
on it.
And follow-up, what arestraight people supposed to do
this month?
Aimee Terravechia (23:42):
I love the the question of what are
straight people supposed to dothis month, first of all.
Liz Canada (23:46):
Stay indoors.
Aimee Terravechia (23:47):
Yeah.
Liz Canada (23:50):
Because it's hot out.
That's all.
It's just hot outside.
Aimee, I am very intimidated to pronounce your
last name because I've watchedmany people, including uh the
chair of committees, plural, uh,mispronounce it.
So can you pronounce it for me?
Teravecchia.
Teravecchia.
You perfect.
Perfect on the first try.
I did it.
I'm ready to chair a committee.
(00:20):
I'm so excited.
Here I come, New HampshireHouse andor Senate.
No, that's not true.
Aimee Terravechia (00:25):
Sign you up.
Liz Canada (00:26):
No, please don't.
No, do not vote for Liz Canada.
Aimee Terravechia (00:30):
We aren't endorsing candidates, but I
might make an exception for you,Liz.
Liz Canada (00:33):
No, absolutely not.
Absolutely not.
We're cutting all of this.
Absolutely not.
Under no circumstances.
But other people should run foroffice.
You're listening to NewHampshire Has Its Jews, and I am
(00:56):
your host, Liz Canada, and I amin the present.
I am recording this on Monday,June 15th.
And my interview with Heidi andAimee, we recorded this on
Monday, June 15th, like threehours ago.
Usually when I record with aguest, I tell them up front that
(01:16):
like I don't know when theepisode's gonna go live because
it takes me a while to edit.
And I have a full-time jobthat's not this.
Although, if you would like tosupport the show, visit
patreon.com slash NHS Issues.
And I have a family and and adog named Gus.
I have a lot happening, and sothe podcast, as much as I
absolutely love it, I do have alimited number of hours that I
(01:40):
get to work on it.
But in this case, we learnedliterally minutes before we
hopped on to record thatGovernor Ayotte received two
anti-LGBTQ bills on her desktoday.
And as we'll talk about in theepisode, uh, she has five days
to take action.
And so I did not want to waituntil next week or next month
(02:02):
for this episode to get to you.
And in fact, multiple times inthis episode, I will say, Well,
whenever this episode goes livein the future, I hope there's
good news.
Well, I I don't know what'sgonna happen.
Uh because I'm telling you inreal time that those bills are
on her desk uh right now.
I mean, assuming you're notlistening to this i in the
(02:23):
future, I suppose.
But on Monday, June 15th, andwhen this goes live on Tuesday,
June 16th, Governor Ayotte hasthose two bills on her desk.
There are links in the shownotes, the episode description
about uh 603 equality, about NewHampshire outright, about these
bills.
And as we talk about, it's alsoPride Month.
(02:44):
Uh, and I want to make surethat you have as much
information as possible to takethe actions we all need to take
to support the LGBTQ pluscommunity, including our young
people in our state.
Thank you so much forlistening.
Well, welcome to New HampshireHas Issues, the podcast that
dares to ask how proud should webe in New Hampshire?
(03:06):
I am your host, Liz Candida,and joining me today is a blast
from the past, fan favorite, theexecutive director of New
Hampshire outright, HeidiCarrington Heath, and the
executive director of 603Equality, Aimee Terravecchia.
You got it.
We did it.
Okay.
Well, that took 20 minutes ofthe show.
We went from a mini show to ahow do we pronounce a name show.
Aimee Terravechia (03:30):
You know, it I think you're doing a public
service because there's so manypeople who struggle with it.
Liz Canada (03:35):
Well, welcome to the show, Aimee.
Welcome back, Heidi.
Thanks for having us.
Yeah, I'm so happy to be here.
Heidi, you've been here beforeto talk about New Hampshire
outright.
Aimee, you're the executivedirector of 603 Equality.
Why don't you start by justtelling us about your
organization and what y'all do?
Aimee Terravechia (03:51):
Happy to.
So we are New Hampshire's onlyand first statewide advocacy
organization fighting forLGBTQIA rights.
Uh, which means that I haveessentially been living in the
state house uh since January.
Um which yeah, yeah.
Liz Canada (04:07):
Literally background.
Here's the dog.
Woof.
Yes.
Aimee Terravechia (04:10):
Yes.
Uh but yeah, so we've beenfighting to try and affect
policy outcomes in NewHampshire.
Make sure New Hampshire is aNew Hampshire for everyone and
not just a select few.
Liz Canada (04:19):
It is such important work and it's been pretty hard
work, I think, this past year.
And for the past few years,frankly, it's been really hard
here in New Hampshire.
So thank you for all the workthat you do.
For both of you.
Because Heidi, I'm sure it ishard for you as well and been
challenging with what's going onin in New Hampshire and the
Statehouse and beyond.
So I'm hoping to start with asimple question.
(04:42):
June is Pride Month.
So what is pride?
Aimee Terravechia (04:50):
I I can tell you what pride means to me.
Um, but we can also talk abouthistory and pride too.
There's so many different waysto answer that question.
Um, but for me especially,having spent January through May
in the State House, pride is avery lovely uh vibe switch, you
know, being able to be incommunity and celebrate and be
(05:13):
among you know really affirmingfolks.
That unfortunately is notalways the experience that I
have in the statehouse.
So it is a very nice switch andit's a necessary way to like
reconnect and re-engage with adifferent side of the work.
It fills my cup, it brings alot of joy.
And obviously, the history ofpride is a very political one
too.
So, like holding that dualityof like the joy and the work
(05:37):
that we have to do, I think it'sa good reminder for me.
Heidi Carrington Heath (05:40):
I generally make it a rule in my
life not to have to follow AimeeTerravechia, and yet here I
have signed my book up to nowhave to do that.
So, yes to all of that.
Um, and I will say, especiallyfor us at New Hampshire
outright, um, Pride is a reallywonderful time centered on
(06:02):
community and connection andjoy.
And it is a chance for ouryoung people to get to see the
big, wide community that theyhave who loves them and supports
them and is fighting with themand for them, particularly so
given the tenor at theStatehouse.
I was with you, Liz, almost ayear ago on the nose at this
(06:26):
time of the year.
We had just finished Pride andI was making some asks of you
then that we'll likely make ofyou again, because we are back
here in a very similar placewhere we were a year ago.
And so it is more importantthan it's ever been for our
young people to get to see andhear and experience what pride
(06:46):
can be.
Um, I always think of one ofour dads at the first pride
after his kiddo came out, heldhis kiddo up on his shoulders
and said, Look around, these areyour people.
And that's pride.
And as Aimee said, it is alsopolitical.
It is our bold rebellion andact of liberation.
Liz Canada (07:07):
So all of that sounds wonderful and hard and
beautiful and important.
And what is going on in theStatehouse, friends?
Because it feels a bit like uhuh maybe perhaps dare I say the
opposite of all of that.
So you've both sort of alludedto being there a lot, fighting
for a lot of things.
(07:27):
There's been an abundance ofanti-LGBTQ bills this year,
including, for example, billstargeting flags in schools.
So, like, what is happening?
Aimee, can you can you start byjust explaining what the I'll
bleep myself out.
What the bleep is happening inthe statehouse.
You're you're not even bleepingyourself in post.
(07:47):
You're doing it live.
No, I'm doing it now, but thebleep is happening.
That way I don't have to findthe sound.
Bleep.
Aimee Terravechia (07:54):
That's great.
Um, unfortunately, what'shappening in the state house is
is a lot of badness this year.
Garbage.
Um, we saw 22 anti-LGBTQ billsproposed in the New Hampshire
State House.
Yes.
And that's double from lastyear.
We had 12 last year that wewere fighting against as an
organization.
Holy smokes.
It's rough.
(08:14):
It's rough.
And um, sadly, a lot of themare like in addition to being
discriminatory, just like whollyunoriginal too.
Um, so like rinse and repeatlegislation from last year,
similar bills to what's going onthis year, like six nearly
identical bathroom and lockerroom bans, for instance.
You mentioned a flag ban bill,lots of school censorship bills,
(08:36):
a forced outing bill.
The good news here is that outof those 22, there's only four
left that we're really hyperfocused on to try and stop.
A lot of them have beendefeated or have been, um, their
harm has been reduced a littlebit.
So those four are the last fourum for this session.
(08:57):
So I'm hopeful.
I'm I'm really proud of ourcommunity for showing up and
testifying.
Um, we've done a lot of reallyhard work together, and there's
a little little bit more workleft to do as we also celebrate
pride.
Liz Canada (09:11):
Yeah, right.
And right before we hopped onhere to record, we just got word
that the governor has two ofthose bills on her desk right
now.
So I'm not sure when this isgonna go live.
I'm guessing it'll go liveafter she takes action because
she has five days once the billshit her desk.
She has to take action in someway.
(09:32):
Three choices she has.
One is to sign the bill, turnit into law.
That would be a bad idea.
Two would be to do nothing andlet the time expire and then it
becomes law.
Also terrible, shouldn't dothat.
And her third choice is to vetothe bills.
So within the next five days,she has to take one of those
(09:54):
three actions now that those twobills are on her desk.
So I hope, listeners of thefuture, that there's good news
out there and that when I do mylittle voiceover, I can tell you
that.
That is my hope and dream forus in the future.
Can we talk about what thosetwo bills are?
What what what are we dealingwith here that's on her desk?
Heidi Carrington Heath (10:11):
Aimee, I'll start and then happy to tag
team with you.
Um, currently on her desk isSB552, which is a nearly
identical bathroom and lockerroom bill to what we saw last
session.
Listeners, you may remember thelast time I was here, I asked
the question, New Hampshire hasissues, the podcast that dares
(10:32):
to ask, who really gets to livefree?
And yet again, here we arelooking at an almost identical
piece of legislation.
The good news is a very similarbills have been vetoed now two
sessions in a row by twoseparate governors, including
Governor Ayotte.
And so we are hopeful that shewill do so again and get back to
(10:53):
the important business of NewHampshire.
Aimee, do you want to talkabout 464?
Aimee Terravechia (10:59):
Yeah, happy to.
Um, well, unhappy to.
I guess that's the wrongterminal.
But yeah, 464 is uh a bill thatwould make it harder
essentially to enforce civilrights violations.
So it increases kind of youknow the barrier to both file a
complaint and also the burden ofproof.
Thankfully, that bill has beenamended.
(11:20):
So it's uh it's a little bit umnicer, I guess, than the
original version, but it's stillsomething that we as an
organization are standingagainst.
We don't want to see anybodyhave a harder time bring forth a
civil rights complaint and beable to see actionable steps
taken to remedy that in thestate of New Hampshire.
I think that's just a bad, abad choice and a bad look.
Liz Canada (11:42):
Very bad look.
So those are the two bills thatshe has currently.
And you mentioned that thereare two other ones lurking out
there.
What are those two bills left?
Aimee Terravechia (11:52):
There's one that's another identical
bathroom bill to the one that'son the governor's desk right
now.
Um, and then there's a schoolcensorship bill too, um, which
is SB434.
So SB434 is school censorship,and then HB 1442 is another
identical bathroom bill.
Boo censorship.
Yeah, boo censorship.
We're back to book bands.
(12:12):
We're back to book bands, we'reback to book bands.
Just book bands, Liz.
They've they've made it bigger,better, stronger, worse, I
guess.
Liz Canada (12:19):
This sounds like a horrible infomercial.
But wait, there's more thanjust the book bands.
Okay.
Aimee Terravechia (12:25):
Yeah.
Well, what yeah, it's afar-reaching materials ban.
So it's not just books, it'sdocumentaries, it's it's
curriculum, it could be aworksheet.
Um, anything that could beintroduced in the classroom or
in a school library could bechallenged.
And the way that this looks inpractice is, you know, say um
there's a parent who doesn'twant little Timmy to read
(12:48):
something.
Um, right now they can say, Idon't want Timmy to have access
to this material.
The school's like, cool, weunderstand.
That's fine.
But this new bill, should itbecome law if little Timmy's mom
doesn't want Timmy to readsomething?
That starts a process thatrestricts access to that
material for everyone in theschool district.
So my children would not haveaccess.
(13:09):
Your children would not haveaccess.
Liz Canada (13:11):
Where are those parental rights I heard so much
about?
I know.
Okay.
Yeah.
Um, that sounds really, reallyterrible.
So I mentioned the flag ban,and we're talking about this
curriculum.
So I guess perhaps a questionmight be if there's a rainbow
flag or a book that includes agay character, how likely is it
(13:38):
that a student seeing that orreading it will become gay,
would you say?
Generally speaking, if you hadto guess, are we talking like
nine out of ten times?
How likely is this gonnahappen?
Aimee Terravechia (13:51):
You know, if that if that were how things
would had worked, uh I would Iwould be straight.
Liz Canada (13:57):
So Me too, Aim.
We all would be.
Me too.
I think that's right.
We all would be, yes, indeed.
Aimee Terravechia (14:03):
I and I think you know, there's something to
be said, like being able to seeyourself represented in the
media you consume, in the booksthat you read, in your
community, in your classroom.
Like those are uh such powerfulthings to build an affirming
environment.
And when you exist in anaffirming environment, you know
that you can show up as yourauthentic self.
(14:24):
So, like, I know you asked thatquestion to jest, but also like
the the ability to show up asyour real self is such a
powerful thing.
Obviously, there's there'sgoing to be more people who feel
comfortable to live a lifeoutside of the closet, who feel
comfortable to be authentic intheir communities if we build
affirming communities.
That does not mean that theywere not gay to begin with.
Heidi Carrington Heath (14:47):
And Aimee, you hit on something that
I think is really importantthere, which is there are folks
who might argue, well, like whatdoes a rainbow flag have to do
with me and why is it in mykids' classroom?
Or how necessary really is thisbook or this piece of
literature?
And the reality is it iscritically important for the
young person who might be LGBTQor have questions about their
(15:09):
identity.
But I would suggest to you it'simportant for all of us because
when we create welcoming andaffirming spaces, all of us are
more able to authentically beourselves.
All of us are more able to showup as who we really are.
And that builds stronger,broader communities for every
citizen and every young person,not just the young person who
(15:31):
most needs to see those things.
Liz Canada (15:34):
This feels really overwhelming.
I'm gonna be honest.
Feels like we're having somebig fights in New Hampshire
right now.
What's the vibe for folks?
Like we're on our little callchit-chatting.
Perhaps our uh level of stressis higher than usual, but how is
it how is it just just a touchhigher than usual?
What are you hearing fromfolks?
(15:56):
So, Aimee, you know, you youwork you're an advocacy
organization that representslike the people of of New
Hampshire.
And Heidi, you work directlywith families.
What's the vibe out there?
How are folks feeling withwhat's happening at the
Statehouse, what's happeningacross the country, from the
federal government, and ingeneral this Pride Month.
(16:18):
What's the vibe?
Heidi Carrington Heath (16:19):
I would say, you know, in my arena,
particularly for young people,they're always carrying it with
them right now, even when theydon't talk about it.
I feel sure I said somevariation of this the last time
I was here, too.
But there is a cost to our kidsto swimming in these political
(16:40):
waters when they are watchingthe people in power who are
charged to protect them, whosenumber one job should be their
health and well-being, debatetheir personhood in public,
whether legislation passes or itdoesn't.
They swim in that water all thetime.
And so it's always with them.
They're always carrying it,even when they don't talk about
(17:00):
it, even when we as adults maythink like they seem pretty
okay.
It's there, it's knockingaround.
And similarly, you know, wehave families asking real
material questions about safetyand is it safe for me to
continue to raise my child inNew Hampshire?
And these are folks who loveNew Hampshire, who've lived
their whole lives here, who arebuilding a stronger granite
(17:24):
state, but they are asking realquestions in this moment about
what's the breaking point when Imay have to make a different
choice.
And that breaks my heart.
Um, and so pride this year,more important than ever, more
important than ever for thoseyoung people to see big crowds
of people who show up and say welove you and we're here to
support you.
And for those families, becauseit's hard work to be the parent
(17:47):
or the caregiver of an LGBTQyoung person when you too feel
like your government is notdoing the work that you hope
that they will do to care forand protect the vulnerable.
Aimee Terravechia (17:58):
Echoing everything that you have just
said, Heidi, I think too, likewe've we've spent the past five
months inviting folks to comeand testify against bills in the
statehouse.
And on one occasion, I havethis like very vivid memory of
this young trans woman coming totestify.
And she was excited to be ableto like speak.
(18:19):
Um, you know, she got up, shesaid her piece, the committee
not super friendly, some peoplein the room not super friendly.
And afterwards I checked inwith her in the hallway and she
said, I have had such awonderful experience in New
Hampshire until I entered thisroom.
Um and like, yeah, to like tosee your elected officials, you
(18:45):
know, create such uh anenvironment of divisiveness.
Um, that's hard.
That's hard to show up and seeand hear.
So there's definitely aheaviness that people are
carrying with them, I think,24-7, um, because of what we see
in public discourse, what wesee on news, what we hear about
(19:05):
with legislative updates, and itdoes feel heavy and
overwhelming.
But pride also, in addition tobeing this joyous thing, like I
very much see joy as this act ofresistance.
Like, yes, like that is that isa necessary part of the work.
And being able to, you know,restore yourself, restore your
(19:26):
community to come together andconnect is really, really
important.
Having fun, laughing, like inspite of everything is so
important.
Heidi Carrington Heath (19:36):
We gotta laugh, folks.
My God, yes.
We gotta laugh.
And like, listen, pride is ourcollective reminder that queer
and trans people have alwaysexisted and always will.
Like, no matter how much peoplein power may want that not to
be true or maybe working againstus, we have always been here
(19:56):
and we will always be here.
And so we are gonna show up bigin joy and in community.
Liz Canada (20:03):
Yes.
All right.
My last question for you islet's assume that this goes live
after the first two bills havebeen acted on.
What should someone do?
They're listening to thisepisode, they've listened to
Heidi's episode from last year.
And if you haven't, it's anexcellent sort of starter guide
of like, okay, I don'tunderstand why we're talking
about this all the time.
Can somebody explain it?
(20:24):
That's the episode to go backand listen to.
But what should someone do?
Aimee Terravechia (20:27):
I I have a shameless plug, which is that
you should sign up for ournewsletter and and follow us on
social media because I will putout action alerts about when
people can affect policyoutcomes.
Um, I let people know too aboutthe status of different bills
and legislation.
And we as an organization areworking really, really hard to
(20:48):
shed a light on what thatprocess looks like.
So people feel empowered to getengaged.
New Hampshire's a weird wildwest of a state.
We have a very bizarrestatehouse, but there's also a
lot of points of access that nota lot of people know about.
So, like there's a lot ofopportunities to get engaged.
And I don't want people to notrecognize that they have power
(21:10):
in this process still.
Heidi Carrington Heath (21:11):
So I'm gonna plus one.
Um, my good friend andcolleague, please sign up for
Six or Three Equalitiesnewsletter.
Great action steps for you totake.
Please sign up for NewHampshire outright's newsletter,
especially if you are an LGBTQplus young person or young
adult, or you are someone wholoves an LGBTQ plus young person
or young adult.
We are expanding ourprogramming and our supports all
(21:34):
the time.
And that will continue to betrue.
And I am also going to say,especially for those of us who
are 18 plus in the room, please,please, please speak up.
And please, please, pleasespeak out.
Our kids need to see you, ourkids need to hear you, they need
to know who the safe adults arein their community.
(21:56):
Um, and they need to be able tolook around and say, oh, before
I ever entered this space,before I ever engaged with this
person, they thought about meand they wanted me to know that
I would be welcome here.
I would be safe here.
So please do that.
Liz Canada (22:13):
We need folks to have conversations with one
another.
I know that it can be can feeluncomfortable.
I know that you might not feellike you're saying the perfect
thing, and that's also okay.
We need to have conversationsand not just let things be said
without any sort of response.
That is our responsibility asthe grown-ups who care about
(22:34):
these young people.
Heidi Carrington Heath (22:35):
And I will say just shout out to my
friend Kate, um, who has one ofthe things I said at the
beginning of Pride Season waslearn something.
Like pick you have a question,you want to know more about
something, yeah.
Learn about that topic.
Watch a reel, read an article,do a thing.
Um, and she has been posting inher Instagram stories when she
(22:56):
does that to help encourageother people to do the same
thing.
So I'll add that plug to learna thing and then tell a friend
about it.
Liz Canada (23:04):
Learn a thing, say a thing.
That's what we're asking forhere.
That's it.
Well, thank you both for all ofthe work that you do and for
going into that state house dayin and day out, but also getting
us all organized andunderstanding what is at stake
and how we can get involved.
So thank you both so much foreverything you do for New
Hampshire.
And thank you for being on mylittle podcast.
(23:25):
Thank you so much, Liz.
It's been a pleasure.
Thank you, Liz.
I bet we do this again in thefuture, but I had to put money
on it.
And follow-up, what arestraight people supposed to do
this month?
Aimee Terravechia (23:42):
I love the the question of what are
straight people supposed to dothis month, first of all.
Liz Canada (23:46):
Stay indoors.
Aimee Terravechia (23:47):
Yeah.
Liz Canada (23:50):
Because it's hot out.
That's all.
It's just hot outside.
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