This story was originally produced by the Concord Monitor. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Last Tuesday, just days before Gov. Kelly Ayotte announced her decision on a so-called “bathroom bill,” members of 603 Equality gathered outside her office at the State House to implore that she veto it.
The measure, Senate Bill 552, would have allowed certain entities, like businesses and jails, to restrict a transgender person’s ability to enter bathrooms, to play on sports teams or to be categorized as an inmate in accordance with their gender identity.
Though the governor was not there at the time, 603 Equality left postcards, letters and flowers with her executive assistant. On Friday, Ayotte vetoed the bill, the fourth time a “bathroom bill” of this kind has failed to win a governor’s approval — once under Gov. Chris Sununu and, now, three times under Ayotte’s tenure.
The governor noted in a veto message that “trying the same thing again isn’t going to get a different result.” But the advocacy group still fears the repeated attacks they’ve seen on the LGBTQ+ community, particularly efforts they view as attempts by out-of-state groups to influence New Hampshire.
“One of the things we saw was a lot of, like, copy-and-paste bills introduced in the New Hampshire legislature from these kinds of national organizations,” said Aimee Terravechia, executive director of 603 Equality. “A lot of the legislative language this year is very similar to already-vetoed legislation, and is very similar to what we see being pushed in other states, too.”
Founded in 2023, 603 Equality is a local nonprofit advocating for inclusive legislation and policies. Prior to December, 2025, the young organization was fully volunteer-run; Terravechia is its first executive director.
“Bathroom bills” are just one type of legislation the group has mobilized to push back on this year.
In June, members gathered in the State House for a Read-In to protest Senate Bill 434, which if signed into law, would require schools to establish policies to address complaints about learning material believed to be obscene or harmful to minors.
Terravechia, a mother of two, sees the issue as a matter of parents being able to raise their children how they wish.
“I can understand if a parent says, ‘Hey, my kids shouldn’t have access to this thing, I’ll limit my child’s access to them.’ I understand that, I respect that. I think everybody should have the right to raise their kids as they see fit. SB434 would allow another parent in my school district to limit what my kids could read, and I’m not okay with that,” she said.
Born and raised in Alton, Terravechia’s background lies in nonprofit fundraising. Before that, she was a small business owner. She identifies as a queer woman and credits her family with helping her get involved in political activism from a young age.
New Hampshire’s unique legislative environment makes for interesting activism. The Granite State has the largest state legislature in the United States, with 400 House representatives and 24 senators. Pennsylvania, the second largest, only has 203 representatives and 50 senators.
“It’s like the closest thing to democracy that exists in the modern world, in terms of representation per capita,” Terravechia said. “We also have like a really unique kind of worldview and perspective as a people, this like live free or die mentality… There’s a lot of independence here and independent thinking just outside of party politics.”
Year over year, 603 Equality has noted an increase in bills that conflict with its policy priorities. In 2025, the group tracked 12 bills moving through the New Hampshire legislature. In 2026, they’ve tracked 22.
Still, Terravechia believes that most New Hampshire residents don’t think measures like “bathroom bills” should be the legislature’s priority.
“We have some real economic hardships happening in the state of New Hampshire. We have a school funding crisis, we have a workforce shortage, we have a housing shortage. What I’m hearing from folks is that they would much rather our government be focused on trying to fix those issues and have real solutions for real problems as opposed to addressing these really imaginary problems,” she said.
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