Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Governor Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia just signed into law a bill that defines “male” and “female” and bars men from using restrooms and locker rooms designated for women. The new law is formally called the Riley Gaines Act.
In what the legislature calls a bipartisan bill, lawmakers banned men from women’s spaces in government schools, colleges, domestic violence shelters, and prisons.
Riley Gaines, a University of Kentucky graduate and ambassador for the Independent Women’s Forum, is an outspoken advocate of protecting women’s privacy and equal opportunities in sports. The NCAA allowed a man calling himself Lia Thomas to compete against Gaines and her teammates in the swimming championship in 2022. Thomas won the 500-yard freestyle race while throwing the other races.
Gaines told a congressional committee that some of the women changed in the janitor’s closet to avoid changing in front of Thomas. To add insult to injury, the NCAA nominated Thomas as “Woman of the Year.”
“Under Governor Morrisey’s leadership, the West Virginia legislature has executed his priority of defining sex-based words and protecting women’s spaces by swiftly passing this legislation,” Gaines said. “I am truly honored to support such a strong piece of legislation, and I look forward to celebrating this win along with West Virginian women and girls when it becomes law today.”
Gov. Morrisey said that his state “will not bow down to radical gender ideology – we are going to lead with common sense, and the Riley Gaines Act does exactly that.”
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February that keeps boys and men out of girls’ and women’s sports in schools and educational programs that receive federal dollars.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represents female athletes fighting for fair competition in sports.
“States have a duty to protect the privacy, safety, and dignity of women and girls,” said Sara Beth Nolan, ADF attorney. “Letting men intrude into girls’ spaces where they are most vulnerable—whether in a changing space, sleeping quarters, or the restroom—is an invasion of privacy, a threat to their safety, and a denial of the real biological differences between the two sexes,” said Sara Beth Nolan, ADF attorney.
Photo credit: Alliance Defending Freedom
