Bills targeting LGBTQ+ community advance in the Legislature
Several bills seeking to limit gender affirming care, codify “biological sex” and target LGBTQ+ media and performances have been introduced in the state.
CHARLESTON – Nearly two dozen bills seeking to expand government control over the LGBTQ+ community have been introduced in the West Virginia Legislature, with several rapidly approaching floor votes in the coming weeks.
House of Delegates…
In the House of Delegates, House Bill 2006 seeks to legally define “male” and “female.” The bill would exclude transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex people from protections against sex-based discrimination, as well as barring them from restrooms, locker rooms, shelters and prisons that align with their gender identity.
Sponsored by House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, and a slew of Republican delegates, the bill states its purpose as bring “clarity, certainty, and uniformity to the laws of the state regarding sex discrimination, privacy, equality of the sexes, and benefits or services specifically provided to men and women.”
If adopted, the HB 2006 would define “male” and “female” based on their potential for sperm or ova production, respectively. Both definitions provide protections for those who, due to a “developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident” that causes a person to not produce reproductive cells. The bill defines “sex” as either male or female despite decades of studies showing a spectrum of gene-expressed sex as birth.
HB 2006 was placed on the House’s “inactive calendar” by the Rules Committee. It could remain on this calendar and “die” at the end of the session, or be moved to the “active calendar” at any time by the Rule Committee.
A similar bill in the Senate, Senate Bill 456, is up for a third reading Monday, March 3. Like its House counterpart, SB 456 seeks to legally define “male” and “female.”
W.Va. Senate…
Senate Bill 154, sponsored by Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, will see its first reading on the floor of the Senate Monday, March 3. The bill seeks to ban instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools, and out transgender and gender non-conforming students to their parents or guardians.
If a student asks to be referred to by a name or pronoun not consistent with the student’s birth certificate, school officials would be required under SB 154 to report this information to the student’s parent or guardian. Any school employee who fails to report the same could face a formal complaint submitted by the student’s caregiver.
SB 154 would also limit discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, with carve outs for “any historic person, group, or public figure” or when referring to disciplinary actions, like bullying. These topics would be barred in health classes despite the different health needs of LGBTQ+ youth compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers.
A total ban on gender affirming care for minors is moving through the Senate. Sponsored by Sen. Chris Rose, R-Monongalia, Senate Bill 299 would strike exemptions in current legislation allowing puberty blockers and hormone therapy to be prescribed to minors diagnosed with “severe gender dysphoria.” If adopted, the bill would see these treatments outlawed and any medical professional violating the law potentially disciplined by the state Board of Medicine.
On Feb. 19, SB 299 was passed out of the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee with a recommendation to adopt the bill. Since then, it has sat in the Judiciary Committee.
Other introduced bills…
While these four bills have seen movement in recent weeks, several other bills targeting LGBTQ+ people have been introduced. They include:
HB 2033, prohibits the Department of Human Services from denying prospective adoptive or foster parents based on their “sincerely held religious or moral beliefs” regarding sexual orientation or gender identity;
HB 2072, HB 2375, allows medical professionals to choose not to perform, assist or participate in medical procedures, treatments, counciling, prescriptions or surgeries related to sex reassignment or gender transition;
HB 2127, SB 244, a “Women’s” Bill of Rights bill defining “male” and “female” and excluding transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex people from sex-based discrimination laws aligned with their preferred gender identity;
HB 2396, SB 539, allowing libraries, schools and museums to be criminally liable for having materials containing “obscene” material;
HB 2403, HB 2466, SB 279, total ban on gender affirming care for minors;
HB 2406, eliminating “woke” words from state government;
HB 2526, banning transgender students from multiple occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms and shower rooms that align with the students gender identity;
SB 207, banning state funds for drag shows, prohibiting minors from attending drag shows and prescribing punishment for parents allowing their children to attend; and,
SB 276, SB 431, SB 507, banning drag shows on public property or in a location where a minor could view the performance. Violation could result in a misdemeanor or felony charge, as well as a fine of no more than $25,000 and/or imprisonment of no more than five years.
Proposed bills must first be approved by their assigned committee before receiving a vote by the full House or Senate. Most proposed bills “die” at the end of the session without any action taken. In 2024, just 11% of proposed bills were adopted by the Legislature.
This story was informed, in part, by a project tracking anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the state created by Ash Lazarus Orr.