New Hampshire Democratic state Rep. Jonah Orion Wheeler is once again putting himself at odds with transgender advocates and much of his own party, this time with a social media video declaring what he calls “gender ideology” to be an “illiberal, backwards way of thinking.”
Wheeler posted the video Monday on Twitter, saying, “Gender ideology is an illiberal, backwards way of thinking that I make no apologies for” opposing.
The statement is not arriving in a vacuum. Wheeler has developed a record of breaking with Democrats on legislation affecting transgender people, making his latest comments less of a surprise pivot and more of a continuation.
A Record That Already Raised Red Flags
In 2024, Wheeler supported legislation restricting gender-affirming surgeries for minors, arguing on the New Hampshire House floor that allowing such procedures went “a bridge too far.” At the same time, he insisted that he supported LGBTQ+ human rights.
That balancing act became considerably harder to maintain in 2025.
Wheeler was one of only two House Democrats to support HB 148, legislation allowing government entities and businesses to separate certain facilities and activities based on biological sex, rolling back protections transgender people had received under New Hampshire’s anti-discrimination law.
During debate, Wheeler argued that policies protecting transgender access to bathrooms, locker rooms, and other spaces could conflict with the privacy concerns of cisgender women.
More than 100 Democratic lawmakers reportedly walked out during his House speech defending the legislation.
The Language Has Changed
Wheeler has previously framed his positions as attempts to create “nuanced” discussions about specific policies. His newest message goes considerably further by attacking the broader concept he labels “gender ideology.”
That term itself has become common in conservative political campaigns against transgender rights, often collapsing transgender identity, gender-affirming healthcare, school policies, and discussions of gender into a single ideological enemy.
For transgender people, that distinction matters.
There is a substantial difference between debating the details of a particular law and characterizing the ideas underlying recognition of transgender identities as fundamentally backward.
Wheeler remains a Democrat representing Peterborough and Sharon in the New Hampshire House, but his record on transgender legislation has repeatedly placed him alongside Republicans rather than members of his own caucus.
His newest video suggests that divide is not narrowing.
If anything, Wheeler appears increasingly comfortable making transgender issues part of his political identity, even as transgender constituents are left wondering exactly where a Democrat who repeatedly votes to restrict their rights believes their place in his version of liberalism is.
The answer is becoming harder to dress up as mere “nuance.”
