After Gov. Sununu bans trans care for minors, this NH native shares her transition story

“When am I going to be a girl?”

The question had bugged North Hampton native Emily Tressa since she was a small child. 

“I’ve always known that I’m a girl,” said Tressa, 22, a singer and songwriter who now lives in New York City. “But I couldn’t express myself around the age of 3 or 4.” 

In early childhood, Tressa was waiting for the outward signs of the gender identity she felt internally to show up. But as she gained the ability to communicate, she learned that making a match between the two would need some assistance. 

Her mother, New Hampshire resident Linda Fishbaugh, saw her child’s struggle. She helped Tressa start mental health therapy at age 7, and then begin taking puberty blockers at age 12. At 13, Tressa started taking estrogen. 

“Blockers can be used if somebody’s feeling unsure,” Tressa said. “They can put a pause on [puberty].”

Puberty blockers tell the brain to stop releasing puberty hormones. While they help many kids who are on a gender identity journey—by temporarily pausing the onset of puberty while they explore their feelings and identity with their families and health care providers—puberty blockers have been used by physicians for decades to treat early onset puberty, also known as precocious puberty.  

Tressa said having her care team by her side early on was critical to the decisions she was able to make as she grew. 

“I went to therapy growing up and have evidence to back up my transition, and I’m really thankful that I had that,” she said. She eventually underwent sex reassignment surgery in New York, and said the surgery “changed her life.”

“It was such a relief. I was so excited,” she said. 

However, unlike Tressa, who had the support to reaffirm her gender and seek adequate medical attention at the healthiest times to do so, children throughout the Granite State will now no longer have access to such care. 

Last month, Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed an anti-trans bill banning gender-affirming procedures for people under the age of 18.

HB 619 is one of three anti-LGBTQ+ bills, Sununu signed into law this legislative session, and is the first of its kind to be adopted in the Northeast. 

Mental health benefits associated with receiving gender-affirming care 

Republican politicians have used gender-affirming care to drum up division and cast themselves as “heroes,” ready to save children from families who are too quick to allow major surgery on developing bodies. 

The reality is much different. 

A recent study by researchers at Harvard found that very few people under the age of 18 actually use gender-affirming surgeries, and those who do are under the strict care of a health care team.

Meanwhile, previous research has shown that having a full spectrum of care options—including surgery—available to transgender and gender-diverse minors can be lifesaving in mitigating their rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. 

“It is really heavy on your mental health to think my existence is wrong to so many people,” said Alice Wade, treasurer of 603 Equality—a  grassroots LGBTQ+ advocacy group—and candidate for New Hampshire state representative from ward 2 in Dover. “Transitioning is what made me happy, made my life so fulfilling.”

Wade, who received sex reassignment surgery last year, said during her teens and especially in her high school years, she lived with a lot of self-doubt about being trans due to potential social backlash. It prevented her from seeking much-needed gender affirming health care. 

“I went from being suicidal and depressed and getting bad grades and unable to focus,” she said. “I was just so distracted constantly by this anxiety around my appearance, about how other people perceived me, that I couldn’t pursue my life goals.” 

Wade said she started her transition with puberty blockers at 17 and it changed her life for the better. “I didn’t even have life goals because I was just constantly stressed out by puberty.”

The New Hampshire primary election is on Sept.10, when Granite Staters will narrow down options for the positions of governor, as well several state representatives, senators, and members to the executive council.

Winners from the primary will face off in the general election on Nov. 5. Voters can register at their local town and clerk’s office. To find out who’s on your ballot, visit vote411.org.