WV Delegates approve “Women’s Bill of Rights”

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va (WDTV) – House Bill 5243, commonly referred to as the “West Virginia Women’s Bill of Rights”, was approved by the House of Delegates today, and moves on to the Senate.

The bill, which seeks to define terms relating to sex and gender expression in the state of West Virginia, has received scrutiny from those who claim it does not confer any new rights to women.

Members of Fairness WV, a Statewide civil rights advocacy group, have said that the bill “did not protect reproductive freedom, equal pay, affordable child care, menstrual equity, or any other issue to address the real problems affecting women. Instead, the bill redefines what ‘equal’ means, claiming that ‘equal’ does not mean ‘same’ or ‘identical.’”

“This exact language has been used in other states to restrict the rights of transgender people,” said Isabella Cortez, Gender Policy Manager for Fairness West Virginia. “If our state signs this bill into law, we will be handing a sledgehammer to the opponents of fairness and equality, and it’s clear that they will use this sledgehammer to try and tear down all of our community’s hard-won victories.”

The bill was approved by the House with a 87-12 vote, with only one Republican member of the house voting against it. That one person was Rosemary Ketchum, who became West Virginia’s first openly transgender official in 2020.

“Anyone pretending that this bill isn’t an attack on transgender Mountaineers is just not being honest,” said Andrew Schneider, Executive Director of Fairness West Virginia. “The women of West Virginia were promised a real bill of rights, and our delegates failed to deliver.”

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