Senate Bill 456, the Riley Gaines Act, is now West Virginia state law, defining a man and a woman by biological sex.
Governor Patrick Morrissey says this protects women’s single-sex spaces, while others say it targets transgender people and their human rights.
The law takes effect on July 9, 2025.
“This is an issue that has nearly universal support, yet the woke left is always digging their heels and trying to force the rest of the country to adhere to the radical gender ideology,” Morrisey said. “Well, that’s not going to happen here. That’s not going to happen in West Virginia.”
Gabriella Kincaid says Senate Bill 456 risks lives.
“Hate against people that’s changed. As Americans, we’re supposed to have the freedom to change and be who we want to be,” said the Oak Hill resident. “We have the resources and the people to take action to make this a safer area for any and everybody.”
The new law rigidly defines what it means to be a man or woman, prohibiting those who are transgender from using restrooms that align with their gender identity in all state facilities.
“The DMV, the state capitol, schools and universities,” Fairness WV’s Jack Jarvis said. “Particularly concerning about this new law is that it directly conflicts with decisions at the Federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Delegate JB Akers (R-Kanawha County) says the West Virginia Senate wants to preserve traditional single-sex spaces while providing accommodations for people who may need them.
“With the gender-neutral accommodations we allowed — we recognize a small percentage of people may have a medical issue in terms of their sexual development. There are accommodations for that,” said Akers.
In places that adopted inclusive laws to ban discrimination and it’s easier to be out of the closet, Jarvis says there have been no safety incidents.
“We all care about safety, and it’s already illegal to enter the restroom or locker room or any space like that with the intent to harm someone,” the communications director said.
Oak Hill resident Dalton Ruff calls Senate Bill 456 a good thing.
“If somebody comes in the bathroom with my sister, but maybe they’re still attracted to girls and they was a man — I mean, you never know what could happen in this day and time. It could go bad real fast,” said Ruff.
According to Akers, it’s complicated having biological male prisoners who self-identify as female housed in the female population.
“Being locked in a cell with a woman when some of these biological men are convicted sex offenders,” the delegate said. “I’m not saying that’s what the general trans population would do, but this is reported in mainstream media. This has happened.”
While Jarvis says the last thing he thinks anyone wants is to put someone at risk…
“When we force a transgender woman to go into the men’s restroom, we put her at greater safety risk,” he said.
Sex-segregated spaces are limited to schools, domestic violence shelters and correctional facilities. A school can offer a gender-neutral bathroom as an option.
“I think a gender-neutral accommodation is reasonable under most circumstances,” said Akers.
This bill is going to hurt domestic and intimate partner violence victims the most.
“If we can’t give them a safe haven, if we can’t house trans women with other women as they are, the only option we’ll have left is to send them to a homeless shelter or put them out on the streets,” Jarvis said. “That is just a death sentence.”
Akers says he’ll always stand by the proposition that there are places where single-sex spaces are a necessity, like a woman in a domestic violence shelter.
“I’m not being insensitive to someone who identifies as transgender, but if you’re still biologically male, I think some women maybe need some space from that for a while in that kind of setting,” the 55th District representative said.
According to Jarvis, this leaves us in gray territory.
“I think more people are realizing how crazy a bill like this is, how it’s ineffective and doesn’t help people,” he said. “I hope our lawmakers would reconsider it.”
