photo by: W.Va. Legislative Photography

The Senate Judiciary Committee listens to testimony Tuesday evening on SB 456, defining “male” and “female” in state code.

CHARLESTON — Both the West Virginia House of Delegates and the state Senate could be considering legislation to define “male” and “female” in state code and to limit the rights of transgender individuals as soon as the beginning of next week.

Both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Judiciary Committee recommended versions of Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s Riley Gaines Act to their respective bodies Tuesday. If the House and Senate take up messages on those bills today, they could be on second reading and amendment stage by Friday, and on third reading and up for passage Monday.

The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Senate Bill 456 to the full Senate for passage Tuesday evening in a voice vote.

The House Judiciary Committee recommended House Bill 2006 to the full House for passage Tuesday morning.

SB 456 and HB 2006 aim to define “sex,” “male,” and “female” in West Virginia state law based on biological characteristics observed at birth. The bills also aim to limit spaces to biological males and females, prohibiting transgender individuals from using facilities based on the gender they identify as.

“Everyone has the right to live the way they want to live,” said state Sen. Scott Fuller, R-Wayne. “But you have to use common sense and understand if that was my daughter, if that was your daughter, would you really want a grown man that says that they’re a woman to enter those spaces when they’re that vulnerable?”

“I know several (transgender) individuals and I respect them and I believe they should be safe to live their lives and choose what they want to do, but it does not override the right of…women who do not want to share space with someone who is a biological male,” said state Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson. “It’s not a question of hating them or calling them names or wanting them abused; it’s a question of what we feel comfortable with.”

State Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, questioned the need for the bill and whether there were specific incidents in the state involving transgender individuals that warranted further restrictions.

“It’s not a decision that people make. It’s who they are,” Garcia said. “I really don’t care what somebody’s doing or how they want to dress as long as they are pursuing what makes them happy and not hurting other people…The most important thing right here is that these are people. And they may then be defined as male or female, but they are people.”

Both bills are named for Riley Gaines, a former college swimmer at the University of Kentucky and the ambassador for Independent Women’s Voice, a conservative advocacy group. Gaines lobbied former governor Jim Justice and the Republican-led Legislature last year for a similar bill, then called the Women’s Bill of Rights. That bill, House Bill 5243, passed the House during the 2024 legislative session, but the bill was never taken up in the state Senate.

Morrisey worked closely with Gaines during the 2024 primary for governor while representing the state as attorney general on a federal lawsuit pending before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a transgender female student-athlete who filed suit against a 2021 law banning transgender girls and women from playing in biological female sports.

Gaines first made headlines in 2022 after competing against Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who was on the University of Pennsylvania’s swim team. Gaines is one of several college athletes suing the NCAA over its policies regarding transgender athletes.

Morrisey joined Gaines at the Charleston Marriott last April for a ceremonial signing of a pledge to “support legislation that preserves female opportunities and private spaces.” Morrisey announced during his first State of the State address on Feb. 12 that he would introduce the Riley Gaines Act.

Kim Russell, a former head women’s lacrosse coach at Oberlin College, is an ambassador with the Independent Women’s Forum which Gaines is also involved with. Giving testimony remotely in the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday evening, Russell said Morrisey’s bills align with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump barring transgender girls and women who were born as males from participating in sports with biological females.

“This bill would safeguard female private spaces from attack by those who seek to manipulate the definition of words to achieve policies that lack political support,” Russell said. “It will prevent men who say they identify as women from gaining an unfettered right to women’s spaces. If we can’t define sex, West Virginia will have no way to fight sex discrimination. New committee members have the opportunity to be heroes for women’s rights and uphold biological truth.”

The bills focus on preserving single-sex spaces — such as restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters for overnight trips — within domestic violence shelters, public schools, and state higher education institutions. The committee substitute for HB 2006 recommended by the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday morning added correctional institutions to the list of single-sex spaces.

The bill includes a provision that acknowledges the 2020 ruling U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Grimm v. Gloucester School Board that a transgender student must be allowed to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity. However, the bill also states that if the Grimm decision is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the limitations on enforcement imposed by the reference to Grimm “shall be considered repealed.”

“So, in passing this legislation, we’re not overturning Grimm,” said House Minority Whip Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, seeking clarification from the committee’s counsel. “We are still following Grimm…And we’re throwing this in, throwing a prayer out there that Grimm will be overturned.”

Concerns remained over the provisions of both bills that single out domestic violence shelters. Julie Britton, executive director of the YWCA of Charleston’s Resolve Family Abuse Program, said her program works to make sure women and men are not sharing the same space. But if the bills include domestic violence shelters, it will create an unfunded mandate and put financial strains on domestic violence programs to meet the law’s requirements.

“This is moving us into…an unfunded mandate,” Britton said. “We don’t have money to support someone staying in a hotel until we can find them a safe space. We always do accommodations, but at the end of the day, when we’re out of space, that means hoteling. And that’s expensive.”