West Virginia delegates passed a bill that would define “man” and “woman.”
Senators earlier this week passed SB456 32-1 with one absence. Now the House of Delegates has passed the bill 87-9 with four absences.
The bill was amended during its time in the House so it goes back to the Senate to accept or reject that.
“This law simply solidifies what we’ve always known to be true, which is that there is a necessity for single-sex spaces especially for the girls and the women in our society,” said House Judiciary Chairman J.B. Akers, R-Kanawha.
The bill literally carries the short title “Defining Men and Women.” In it, “A ‘woman’ is an adult human of the female sex, and a ‘man’ is an adult human of the male sex.”
It also aims to define and preserve single-sex spaces, particularly in bathrooms and dormitories — and also domestic violence shelters.
Debate on the House floor focused on whether the legislation is necessary, what would be the consequences of violation and whether it would be intrusive.
House Bill 2006 literally carries the short title “Defining Men and Women.” It also aims to define and preserve single-sex spaces, particularly in bathrooms and dormitories.
The bill was introduced on behalf of Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican who made an emphasis of it during his State of the State address. Morrisey called the legislation the “Riley Gaines Act,” after the former collegiate swimmer who is now an influencer in politics surrounding transgender issues.
Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, asked some specific questions about how the bill might work in practice.
“So an individual walks in, some gray hair, not very muscular, has some gender-neutral shoes on, maybe they’re Velcro — and I have questions — and this person bypasses the urinal and goes to the stall, and I hear them using the restroom, and those questions arise even more: Is that a man or is that a woman?” Fluharty said on the House floor.
“Where do I go from there? Who do I report this to if I have questions?”
“Who would you report it to now?” Akers responded.
“The police,” Fluharty said.
“If you think the situation is analogous to what you would do today, I think your reporting mechanism would be the same,” Akers said.
“So you’re saying this doesn’t do anything?” Fluharty asked.
“I’m not saying that at all,” Akers said. “It’s a definitional statute because there are splits in decisions and court cases across the country; there are different interpretations by different judges; there are different interpretations by different legislative bodies; there are different interpretations by government agencies.
“So this codifies the definitions of biological sex within our code and applies it to three distinct entities. Those would be our schools, shelters and correctional facilities. So the bill does do something.”