Biden administration officials are still unclear on the definition of “woman” and may want to check in with Idaho.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed without comment legislation that codifies in state law biological definitions for “woman,” “man,” and other sex-based terms, making his state the fifth to exclude men who identify as women from being legally recognized as female.
The Republican governor’s decision to sign House Bill 421 was cheered by the right-tilting Independent Women’s Voice, which has advocated for model legislation based on its Women’s Bill of Rights that “codifies the common public understanding of sex-based words.”
“Thank you Governor Little for standing with women and signing the codification of sex-based terms in law, inspired by Independent Women’s Voice’s Women’s Bill of Rights,” said former All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, an IWV ambassador.
“Idaho’s action on this issue should be celebrated and is a sharp rebuke of an aggressive attempt to erase women’s rights,” Ms. Gaines said in a statement. “Thank you for saying ‘NO’ to this discriminatory effort to rewrite women’s rights and allow men to take our opportunities and infiltrate our spaces.”
House Bill 421, signed into law on Tuesday, takes effect July 1. The measure declares that there are only two sexes, male and female; that everyone is either male or female, and gives biological definitions for sex-related terms including “mother,” “father,” “girl” and “boy.”
“In no case is an individual’s sex determined by stipulation or self-identification,” reads the legislation, which passed the House and the Senate with no Democratic votes.
Four states — Kansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Nebraska — adopted similar measures last year. Five states — Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi — are considering such legislation.
BREAKING: Idaho @GovernorLittle signs #WomensBillofRights inspired legislation into law, becoming the 5th state to codify ‘male’ & ‘female’ terms!
— Independent Women’s Voice (@IWV) April 10, 2024
Idaho’s #HB421 is an important step in helping to preserve single-sex spaces. 👏🚺 Learn more:https://t.co/J3FY68ZoOr pic.twitter.com/3pIobI6ZWX
At least two Biden administration officials — Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona — have struggled when asked by Republicans to define “woman,” a question spurred by the White House’s effort to include gender identity in policies and laws related to sex.
House Bill 538, which Idaho’s governor signed into law on Monday, forbids government entities from compelling their employees to use someone’s opposite-sex pronouns. The measure also bans schools from adopting students’ opposite-sex pronouns and names without parental consent.
Mr. Little last week signed House Bill 668, which bans public funding from covering “gender-affirming care.” The state previously approved a ban on gender-transition drugs and surgeries for minors, which is now in court.
The bills were approved over the objections of transgender rights advocates, who protested earlier this month by dropping 48,000 paper hearts from the fourth floor onto the capitol rotunda.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho accused the Republican-controlled Legislature of giving in to the “hateful demands of far-right extremists at the expense of the safety, security, and health of Idaho’s transgender community.”
“Idaho’s legislators are using LGBTQ+ people, communities of color, and immigrants as political scapegoats, creating a less inclusive, less safe, and less vigorous Idaho,” the ACLU posted on X. “It is supremely un-American, and we will not stop resisting.”
Idaho was the first state to pass legislation barring male-born scholastic athletes from participating in female sports, a bill approved in 2020 sponsored by Republican state Rep. Barbara Ehardt, a former NCAA Division I basketball player and coach.
Another 23 states have since passed similar Save Women’s Sports bills. The Idaho law remains on hold following a federal court injunction that was upheld in August by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ms. Ehardt cheered the governor’s decision to define “sex” in state law.
“I have absolutely appreciated the leadership role that Independent Women’s Voice has taken in helping nationally to push to define ‘sex,’” Ms. Ehardt said in a statement. “Idaho is the next state to join this push and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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