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Critics say a West Virginia ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ is an effort to suppress transgender people
By: John Raby | AP
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Legislation in West Virginia to narrow the definitions of gender would give women no further rights and is a way for Republicans to suppress transgender people, speakers at a public hearing said Thursday.
Dozens of speakers condemned the “Women’s Bill of Rights” while a handful spoke in favor of it during the 45-minute hearing in the House chambers at the state Capitol.
The legislation says that “equal” does not mean “same” or “identical” with respect to equality of the sexes. It would define in state statues and official public policies that a person’s sex is determined at birth and that gender equity terms may not be substituted. It also would establish that certain single-sex environments, such as athletics, locker rooms and bathrooms, are not discriminatory.
Marshall University student Max Varney said the bill uses women’s rights as a cover for transphobia.
“I stand before you as a transgender person in West Virginia. I am not a threat to the public, nor is my existence offensive,” Varney said. “This bill is dehumanizing. It is unjust. And it is disgusting.
“Why am I not supposed to be considered a person too?” Varney continued. “I am here today to show you that trans people in West Virginia are real. I am real. I exist. And I deserve to be treated with humanity.”
Attending both events was former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, who criticized an NCAA decision allowing transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to compete against her in a women’s championship race in 2022. Gaines is part of the anti-trans group Independent Women’s Voice.The bill’s language lacks details such as enforcement mechanisms and penalties, leaving its potential impact unclear. In other states with laws restricting how transgender people can use bathrooms, officials have struggled to understand how they will be implemented.
Despite its broad “Bill of Rights” premise, the measure doesn’t address issues such as reproductive care, abortion, or affordable childcare. One lawmaker’s attempt to insert an equal pay clause was rejected when a House committee chairman ruled that it wasn’t pertinent to the bill, which is alternatively titled: “The West Virginia Act to Define Sex-Based Terms Used in State Law, Help Protect Single Sex Spaces, and Ensure the Accuracy of Public Data Collection.”
Supporter Nila Thomson said at the House Judiciary Committee’s public hearing that the bill “guarantees my rights to safety, privacy and protection. I’m so grateful you took the initiative to put forth this bill.”
But Mollie Kennedy, the community outreach director for the American Civil Liberties Union’s West Virginia chapter, called it a “bigoted bill.”
“We don’t need a women’s bill of rights to know how this legislature feels about women,” she said. “It is appalling and offensive.”
