Elizabeth Goodhue arrived at the Peterborough Town Library seeking answers from her state representatives, Jonah Wheeler and Peter Leishman, about the reasoning behind their votes in the state House last week supporting a bill that would roll back some anti-discrimination protections for transgender people and allow government entities and businesses to separate the use of their bathrooms and locker rooms by biological sex.

They were the only two Democrats to support the bill.

But after an hour of jeering, shouting and fiery exchanges, Goodhue, who lives in Peterborough, said she left feeling “really frustrated” – at her elected officials, at her peers, at President Donald Trump. She wanted to walk away with a better understanding of “both sides” of the issue, but on Tuesday evening, she watched the vitriol of national politics infiltrate her hometown.

“Look what’s happened to us because of Trump,” Goodhue said, citing “this beautiful town, our town … and look at us, we’re a bunch of animals.”

House Bill 148 dominated discussion at the monthly listening session hosted by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters, where Wheeler and Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill fielded questions from the audience. Leishman did not attend.

As people who’ve known Wheeler for years took the microphone and unleashed their frustrations, the 22-year-old held his ground.

“While you were running, I urged you as a friend to do everything in your power to push back against the anti-trans rhetoric and stop bills like these from passing, and you promised me that you would fight for us,” said Jane, who said she grew up knowing Wheeler. She did not share her last name, but said their parents were once roommates. “I was excited to vote for you. I was excited to elect a childhood friend in the House of Representatives, to have someone who I once considered family fighting to keep me and my community safe. I was proud when you won, you gave me hope, and then you stabbed me in the back.”

The comments came less than a week after Wheeler made a speech on the House floor in support of HB 148. 

“The consent of one person cannot stand for the consent of another person,” he told his colleagues last Thursday ahead of the vote.

On Tuesday, Wheeler defended his position against a split crowd that repeatedly devolved into shouting matches. Wheeler said he listened to people on all sides before voting -- the transgender people who fear for their safety if they have to use a bathroom that doesn’t match their gender expression, and women who say they’re uncomfortable with men and transgender women having access to women’s bathrooms.

“You can be masculine and be a feminine person. You can be feminine and be a masculine person. It doesn’t matter, actually, to me, and you can do whatever you feel fit. But your rights end when the rights of another’s begin,” Wheeler told the crowd, which erupted into simultaneous cheers and boos. “Government is about the balance between rights. It’s about the balance between the minority and the majority. So, I hear the minority and then I’m also listening to the majority of women out there.”

Claudia Stewart, a Republican from Rindge and a Cheshire County commissioner, thanked Wheeler for holding his ground.

“Despite being ostracized by your fellow Democrats, you stood your ground for what you morally believe is correct,” Stewart said. “I appreciate him listening to women and being supportive of the issues that we have gone through. Where is the ‘Me Too’ now?”

Wheeler said he didn’t hear a single merit-based argument from those who disagreed with him and argued that he voted his conscience – something not all of his colleagues do.

“The idea that Democrats who vote a certain way – and I know there were at least a third of them who planned on joining me on this piece of legislation – were voting their consciences is silly and lacks a basic understanding of how the Legislature works,” Wheeler said. He said the Democratic caucus in the House needs to have more “full-throated” conversations like the one at the listening session.

The crowd was somewhat split, with no small number of people cheering Wheeler on, though not all were from the Monadnock region. A large group in the front were members of the LGBT Courage Coalition, a national group that advocates against gender-affirming medical care for minors.

A few others besides Stewart thanked Wheeler for his vote, but the majority of speakers said they felt betrayed. Wheeler faced the most-intense backlash from his own community, from people who’ve known him for years. Mary Goldthwaite, a local teacher, asked Wheeler if he understands “the ripple effect that your actions have on vulnerable people.”

“I proudly voted for you, and I am ashamed of what you’ve done out in the world,” Goldthwaite said, beginning to choke up. “This room is full of people you are actively hurting, and I don’t know how you sleep at night.”

Wheeler replied, “I sleep just fine.”

Goodhue, taking the microphone, told Wheeler she believes that he knows his constituents. Peterborough is a heavily Democratic town, and she doubted whether his vote was truly representative of the community.

“Why did you vote in a manner that would upset us so?” Goodhue asked. “I don’t understand how somebody can vote their conscience if they’re an elected official. I thought, and I could be wrong, that you voted for your constituents.”

So, she asked, which is it?

Wheeler said in his view, he did vote for his constituents.

“There were women in this town who told me that they don’t feel safe in their spaces anymore,” Wheeler said. “Despite what this crowd might say, I’m supposed to just label all those women as transphobic?”

Goodhue said afterward that she’s “furious” at Leishman for not attending, and he won’t get her vote in 2026. Her decision on Wheeler will take a bit more time.

“I’m not going to say, ‘I’m not going to vote for you because of this issue,’ but I do have a hard time with somebody voting their conscience if it’s not representing of the women or the people in the party,” Goodhue said, unsure how many Democratic women in her area feel the way Wheeler described. “I guess I have to find those people. [It’s] my job to understand them.”

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.