By Granite State Report
HB 1792 is being sold as an education bill. It isn’t.
Sponsored by Reps. Mike Belcher, Kristin Noble, Jason Osborne, Travis Corcoran, and Matt Sabourin, the bill bans vaguely defined “critical race theory” and “LGBTQ+ ideology” from schools and invites parents to sue teachers who cross an invisible line. That is not reform. It is intimidation.
You cannot legislate away history. You cannot pretend gay students don’t exist. And you cannot claim neutrality while selectively banning discussions that make certain adults uncomfortable. When lawmakers prohibit teachers from discussing race, identity, or inequality, they are not protecting children—they are protecting narratives.
The private right of action is the tell. This bill isn’t about improving education outcomes; it’s about creating fear. It turns classrooms into legal minefields and encourages self-censorship. Teachers won’t teach better—they’ll teach less.
New Hampshire’s strength has always been its independence and local control. HB 1792 replaces both with state-mandated silence and culture-war enforcement. It tells students that the answer to difficult ideas is prohibition, not understanding.
That lesson will do far more damage than any honest conversation ever could.
https://gc.nh.gov/bill_status/legacy/bs2016/billText.aspx?sy=2026&id=1642&txtFormat=html
