West Virginia Erases Transgender People from State Law
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey has signed a bill into law prohibiting legal recognition of transgender individuals' gender identities.
West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed a bill that effectively erases the existence of transgender people from state law.
Surrounded by anti-trans advocates, Morrisey signed the “Riley Gaines Act” — named after the former collegiate swimmer-turned-anti-LGBTQ activist — into law.
The law defines the terms “man” and “woman” based on a person’s biological anatomy at the time of birth in the state code.
For all legal purposes, the state will not recognize the gender of any person who identifies outside of the gender binary or identifies as a gender that does not align with their assigned sex at birth.
This matches an executive order issued by President Donald Trump declaring that the U.S. government will only recognize two sexes — male and female — as observed at the time of a person’s birth.
Under the West Virginia bill, state agencies, educational institutions, and local governments that collect data on vital statistics will be required to report the natal sex of a person when gathering public health, crime, or economic data, reports West Virginia Watch.
Going forward, individuals will be restricted to using multi-occupancy, single-sex facilities, such as restrooms, locker rooms, changing facilities, rape crisis centers, or domestic violence shelters, based on their assigned sex at birth.
Incarcerated individuals will be housed based solely on their assigned sex at birth.
The law allows public K-12 schools and institutions of higher education to offer a single-occupancy bathroom or changing space for those who refuse to use facilities aligning with their assigned sex at birth.
However, the bill also notes that there are limitations on the law as it pertains to restroom use in educational institutions.
According to the bill text, the law cannot be enforced “in any manner inconsistent with or in violation of” the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ finding in Grimm v. Gloucester School Board, in which a school district in Virginia was found to have discriminated against a transgender male, Gavin Grimm, by barring him from the boys’ restroom at his high school.
Because West Virginia falls under the jurisdiction of the 4th Circuit, that ruling also applies to West Virginia schools, making it unclear how any bathroom bans will be enforced. The bill notes that any restrictions on enforcement will be repealed should the Supreme Court overturn the Grimm decision.
“I said in my State of the State speech that West Virginia was going to lead with common sense, and that’s exactly what we’re here to do today,” Morrisey said in prepared remarks. “It’s common sense that women’s spaces, like bathrooms, locker rooms, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers should be kept private for women only. West Virginia will not bow down to radical gender ideology.”
The measure was approved on largely party-line votes in both legislative chambers, where Democratic representation is practically nonexistent.
However, Republicans in the Senate were forced to amend the measure after the House of Delegates passed language that could be interpreted as allowing adults to “inspect” a person’s genitals — including those of children, without obtaining parental consent — to “prove” their sex.
Opponents of the bill and House Democrats pounced on the measure as a gross violation of parental rights and the privacy of students — whether transgender or not.
Del. Shawn Fluharty (D-Ohio) said the bill — and the genital inspection amendment — reflected the “misplaced priorities” of Republicans, saying in a press release that members of the GOP “are more focused on genitals than jobs.”
Lawmakers had to revise the bill to clarify that it does not authorize genital inspections of a minor to verify their sex, instead relying on the gender listed under “sex” on a birth certificate.
Andrew Schneider, the director of the statewide LGBTQ advocacy group Fairness West Virginia, noted that the ramifications of the bill would be far-reaching, potentially harming transgender individuals who seek out refuge from violence.
“This bill explicitly prohibits domestic violence shelters from providing a true safe haven to transgender victims,” Schneider said in a statement. “And as advocates for these victims have pointed out, denying service to transgender victims could be a death sentence.”
Schneider also cautioned that some cisgender women could be targeted for failure to adhere to traditional gender stereotypes of femininity based on their external appearance, including clothing and hairstyles, as occurred in a recent headline-grabbing incident in Arizona where sheriff’s deputies barged into a Walmart women’s restroom to harass a masculine-presenting lesbian woman based on a faulty report that she was transgender.
“When lawmakers police who is and isn’t a woman, when they dictate what bodies are acceptable, when they decide who gets to be safe, we all lose,” Schneider said. “Our lawmakers rushed this bill through the legislative process without considering all the ways this new law could hurt people in our state. They rushed it because they care more about fighting an imaginary culture war than making groceries more affordable, helping public schools, or making our state more inclusive to all families.”
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