In West Virginia, Mountaineers are always free, but a few bills working their way through the state Legislature may require an asterisk to that motto: they’re free to be called sir or ma’am, use public restrooms and have a birth certificate in line with their gender identity — unless they’re a transgender person.
Lawmakers are considering bills that would eliminate “non-binary” as an option on birth certificates, legally define men and women by their reproductive systems and possibly out transgender students to their families.
Jack Jarvis, spokesman for Fairness WV, the state’s only LGBTQ advocacy group, said lawmakers are sending a terrible message with this legislation.
“What they’re saying is ‘you’re not welcome,’” Jarvis said. “Young people, whether they’re gay or straight or trans or cis, want to live in inclusive environments and bills like this will keep people from coming to the state or staying here to live.”
Last week, lawmakers were joined by representatives from national conservative groups and introduced legislation that would designate sex as only man and woman under the name “Women’s Bill of Rights.” Gov. Jim Justice, who is running for U.S. Senate, said he would sign the bill if it gets to his desk.
On Monday afternoon, lawmakers in the House Judiciary Committee moved the bill to the floor following impassioned opposition by the three Democrats in the room.
Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, attempted to attach an equal pay bill into the legislation, which was roundly rejected by the 15 Republicans on the committee. Garcia noted the equal pay measure, HB 4272, hasn’t made it onto a committee agenda.
“This dovetails well with the bill because it actually provides rights,” he said. “If we’re going to pass a Women’s Bill of Rights, why not have this in there?”
A legislative attorney told lawmakers the bill would “protect the right for single-sex spaces” such as restrooms and locker rooms. A bathroom law in Virginia was struck down in 2020 by the same federal appeals court that oversees West Virginia.
The bill was advanced to the floor and a public hearing is now scheduled at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday in the House chamber.
Ash Orr, a Morgantown-based transgender activist, said the bill is a farce.
“The irony within this ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ lies in its failure to specify any concrete right — there is no mention of equal pay, paternity leave, or creating safe access for reproductive health care, including abortion,” Orr wrote in a statement. “Instead, this bill weaponizes the rhetoric of rights to erase protections for transgender West Virginians.”
During the same meeting, lawmakers advanced a bill that would eliminate the option for non-binary on a birth certificate when a child is born. Del. Shawn Fluharty asked if this was even a problem to begin with. A committee lawyer said he didn’t know.
When a child is born in West Virginia, typically the doctor attending the birth fills out the birth certificate and makes a call on the child’s sex based on a visual inspection of the infant.
Non-binary, which is when somebody does not identify with being either male or female, can only be declared by the person who identifies as that, according to Jarvis.
Infants are not cognizant of abstract concepts and cannot communicate if they’re non-binary, he noted.
And while it hasn’t yet cleared a committee, senators have expressed interest in a bill which would make schools report to a child’s parents if they’re transgender or gender non-confirming.
The measure was on the Senate Education Committee’s agenda Tuesday, but was not taken up due to the committee hashing out a school discipline bill.
Jarvis warned that this bill could “literally lead to kids dying” because some families might outright reject a child coming out to them and could lead to abuse.