A bill hailed as the “Women’s Rights Act” passed the House of Representatives on Monday, despite forceful protests from Democrats that the bill would not aid women in the state.
A group of Republicans has fought off a Democrat’s attempt to include equal pay protections for women in legislation.
The bill, forceful Supported by Gov. Jim Justice would enshrine in state law that any mention of women applies only to those who are female at birth because of their biological sex.
“‘Gender’ does not include ‘gender identity’ or other terms intended to convey a person’s subjective sense of self,” the legislation states. House Bill 5243.
According to a parliamentary lawyer, the only right the bill would guarantee is to protect single-sex spaces such as toilets, locker rooms and domestic violence shelters.
Justice, a high school girls basketball coach, held his first news conference of the legislative session last week focused on bills to announce the measure. The Republican governor and U.S. Senate candidate said the bill would protect women’s sports.
He appeared alongside Riley Gaines, a former NCAA athlete who spoke out against trans women in sports.
“This radical attempt to eradicate sex must be stopped and this is where the problem lies [bill] can help,” Gaines said. Four other states have introduced similar measures.
During Monday’s House Judiciary Committee meeting, no Republicans made a statement in support of the bill. The bill’s sponsor, Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Putnam, was present but not a member of the committee.
Meanwhile, Democrats rejected the bill in a lengthy debate that centered on the bill’s failure to provide codified equality or protections for women in West Virginia.
“Does this bill establishing equality guarantee the right to equal pay? “Does it guarantee the right to affordable childcare?” asks Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio. “I’m trying to figure out what rights we grant.”
Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, attempted to amend the bill to include: a law on equal pay for womenalready this year by the Democrat Del. Kayla Young was introduced but failed to gain traction. The legislation would allow individuals to inquire about other workers’ wages and prohibit employers from inquiring about an applicant’s previous wages.
Young’s bill is named Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan Fair Pay Act, named after two West Virginia mathematicians who later became NASA pioneers. The couple appeared in the film “Hidden Figures”.
Garcia told deputies that both women faced significant pay disparities throughout their careers.
“If we want to talk about a bill about women’s rights, then we should talk about fair pay for women,” said Garcia, who serves as chairman of the Minority Caucus. “We were unable to get this bill onto the committee agenda… and this is the perfect time to vote on it.”
Committee Chairman Tom Fast, R-Fayette, said the Women’s Fair Pay Act was not relevant to Women’s Bill of Rights legislation, and Republicans in the room – including two women – agreed and rejected Garcia’s amendment .
The committee ultimately approved the bill, but Democrats voted against it.
Fairness West Virginia, the ACLU-WV and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic have all spoken out against the bill.
“This bill doesn’t help women, it just targets our trans neighbors,” said Emily Womeldorff, director of advocacy campaigns for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. “We welcome legislation that would support women in West Virginia, such as equal pay, better health care, access to abortion and paid leave. [The bill] Don’t do any of that.”
The committee also passed House Bill 4233which would require the state to indicate the child’s gender on a birth certificate seven days after birth. It would also ban the utilize of the term “non-binary” on birth certificates.
Currently, birth certificates indicate the gender of the child as male or female.
In 2022, Oklahoma became the first state to you non-binary gender identification on birth certificates.
More than a dozen states allow Individuals are asked to select a gender-neutral “X” gender marker on their birth certificates.
An attorney for the committee was not aware of any incidents in West Virginia in which a person attempted to identify as non-binary on a child’s birth certificate.
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