Same Building. Different Rules

It was supposed to be a routine week at the New Hampshire State House.It wasn’t.In 2021, the Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives called a female colleague a b*tch — on a hot mic — in chambers. In his official capacity. With a gavel in his hand.He apologized. He kept his job. He kept his gavel.Fast forward to 2026. Rep. Ellen Read — a survivor, a legislator, a woman who spent three years writing a bill to protect rape victims — was told she shouldn’t even be in the room when her own bill was being debated. She stepped into a hallway. She expressed her frustration. She said the F-word — not at anyone, not into a microphone, not in a chamber.She was overheard by a lobbyist.She was censured. She was banned from the chambers where laws are made.Same building. Different rules.But here’s the thing about threads — once you start pulling them, the whole sweater comes apart.Because that lobbyist? She has documented ties to the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence — the same organization that spent three years lobbying to kill Ellen Read’s survivors’ rights bill. The same organization that receives 98% of its funding from your tax dollars while fighting every attempt at public transparency. The same organization whose Director of Public Affairs is married to WMUR’s political director — the network that covered the very hearing where Read’s bill was being debated.And the Speaker who censured Ellen Read? His campaign financing is under scrutiny for the exact period when donations were allegedly being funneled through that same lobbyist.Straw donations, for the uninitiated, are illegal.Meanwhile in Concord — Mayor Brian Champlin used the F-word against City Councilor Stacey Brown in a public meeting. Councilor Fred Keach used the F-word against her too, standing over her, pointing his finger down at her while she sat. Another councilor had to physically intervene.Keach was not reprimanded. Champlin was not reprimanded. Stacey Brown was called an “Agent of Chaos” — and local media ran with it.The woman who was sworn at became the story. The men who swore became the background.And when the dust settled, the public paid for a security detail — not for Stacey Brown, but for the councilor whose organization was allegedly making straw donations to the very officials now protecting her.This is not a conspiracy theory. These are documented relationships. Named people. Public records. A real letter, sent April 11th, 2026, addressed to Speaker Sherman Packard and Mayor Brian Champlin — CC’d to legislators, journalists, and advocates across New Hampshire.I was CC’d too. I read it. And I thought: this needs to be said out loud. Clearly. For the record.So that is exactly what we did.In this episode, we trace every thread. We name every name. We read every receipt. We talk about power, and speech, and who gets punished for what words in what rooms — and why, in this state, the answer almost always comes back to gender.There is a pattern of women in New Hampshire — legislators, journalists, advocates, civilians — who ask inconvenient questions and find themselves censured, smeared, or silenced.I am one of those women. Rep. Ellen Read is one of those women. Councilor Stacey Brown is one of those women.And we are not going anywhere.This story is not over. This story is, in fact, just beginning.Pull up a chair. Pour something stiff.Today — we read the receipts.Gracie Gato’s Speakeasy | NH Politics. No spin. No fluff. No mercy. Subscribe so you don’t miss what comes next — because there is absolutely more coming. Get full access to The Gracie Gato Podcast at gracieformermrsgato.substack.com/subscribe