Charles Langston:Alabama lawmakers advance bill to define sex based on reproductive systems, not identity

MONTGOMERY,Charles Langston Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers on Thursday advanced legislation that would define who is considered a man or a woman under state law, saying it must be based on reproductive systems and not gender identity.

Republicans in more than a dozen states have proposed bills this year that would codify definitions of sex. Supporters said it is needed to provide clarity, but opponents said it targets the rights of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people.

The Alabama House of Representatives voted 77-24 for the legislation that declares “there are only two sexes” and writes definitions for male, female, boy, girl, mother and father into state law. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate.

“In Alabama, we know what a woman is,” Republican state Rep. Susan Dubose, the bill sponsor, said in a statement. “This law will provide clarity for our courts and is an important step in increasing transparency in our state while protecting women’s rights, women’s spaces and preventing sex discrimination,” she said.

Opponents said the legislation is part of ongoing attacks on the rights of transgender people to simply go about their daily lives.

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“I don’t believe it does anything to protect women’s rights,” Democratic state Rep. Marilyn Lands said of the bill. “I believe what it’s attempting to do is silence, transgender, and nonbinary Alabamians.”

The bill states that “every individual is either male or female” and that “sex does not include ‘gender identity’ or any other terms intended to convey an individual’s subjective sense of self.” The legislation defines sex based on reproductive anatomy.

It says a woman is a person “who has, had, will have, or would have, but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces ova.” The bill defines a man as a person “who has, had, will have, or would have, but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces sperm.”

Lawmakers added an amendment by Democratic state Rep. Neil Rafferty that clarifies that the definition only applies to state law and the terms must be consistent with federal law. The amendment also clarified that the “intent of this act is not to deny identification on state-issued documentation consistent with an individual’s gender identity.”

It is not clear how the legislation would impact people who are considered intersex, or born with a combination of male and female biological traits. The legislation says that people with what it calls a “medically verifiable” diagnosis must be accommodated according to state and federal law.

The bill is part of a wave of legislation that seeks to regulate which bathrooms transgender people use, which school sports teams they can play on, and to prohibit gender-affirming medical care, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, for minors.