Alabama Senate committee advances legal definitions of gender terms including 'man' and 'woman'

On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate County and Municipal Government Committee advanced a bill that defines gender terms to correspond with the scientific biology of the individual.

Senate Bill 92 (SB92) is being sponsored by State Senator April Weaver (R-Briarfield).

“I am here today to introduce SB92 which codifies which codifies the time honored definitions of male, female, man, woman, boy, girl, mother, father, and sex. I am here to stand for women’s rights. This bill is a definitional bill for our courts to have guidance when interpreting laws that already exist in Alabama. Most important to acknowledge in this bill is that there are only two sexes male and female and the term sex is objective and fixed.”

The bill will define terms such as “man,” “woman,” “boy,” “girl,” “father,” “mother,” “male,” “female,” and “sex” to establish foundational definitions in state law. It would also enable state and local governments to create separate single-sex spaces under certain conditions and mandates the identification of individuals as either male or female at birth for vital statistics.

An amendment to the bill clarified that gender identity is not the same as sex under Alabama law.

“Sex does not include gender identity. Gender identity is a subjective term used to convey one’s sense of self,” Weaver quoted. “It is not a synonym or substitute for sex.”

Weaver said she’s worked with the Alabama Department of Public Health and that the amendment acknowledges that some people are born with a rare medical condition in which their sex is not readily identifiable at birth and they are given accommodations under the American Disabilities Act.

“This bill does not affect that accommodation,” Weaver said.

There was a public hearing on the bill.

“I am a woman with trans experience,” Destiny Clark said. “In my professional life I help women who are in the transexperience. Some of the things in this bill talk about: changing rooms, rehabilitation centers, homeless shelters, prisons and I am here to tell you I have worked with every one of those that in the state of Alabama, as many of you know, that does not happen. In my job in my capacity I am telling you that there is no center, no changing room, or prison that allows a transwoman to go into Julia Tutwiler Prison. There is not a rehab center in the state of Alabama that will take a trans woman. I have tried several. They are all sent to men’s facilities. Homeless shelters send all transwomen in to men’s facilities. This is what I do on an everyday basis. I am asking you to please vote no on this bill.”

Becky Gerritson is the executive director of Alabama Eagle Forum.

“I want to express our support for this bill,” Gerritson said. “As you know there has been a real aggressive and successful attempt to erase women as a distinct legal category, so this bill is really important because it is going to bring clarity and consistency to how biological women are treated under the law in Alabama. We want to keep our young women safe, our girls safe and this bill will help preserve those single sex spaces that ensure privacy, safety, equal opportunity; and as Destiny just said men are not being allowed to go into women’ s spaces right now and we need to put that into law and make sure that it stays that way.”

“This doesn’t alter anyone’s legal rights,” Gerritson said. “These clear definitions make it easier for courts and agencies to interpret laws and regulations and makes governing more transparent. We would love to see this bill move forward.”

“Who somebody had sex with last night is not history,” Kaitlin Burkette said. “If this is the only lens the community views the LGBTQ community through; you all are reducing a community of people down to the sex acts that you imagine them performing and robbing that community of its humanity. When the state robs a community of people of their humanity for any reason including whom they love it would be a stain on the history of Alabama.”

“This bill is looking for a problem that is not there,” Burkette said. “This bill is an organized attack on the minority community that a patriot and proponent of the U.S. Constitution would understand deserve protection not oppression. Americans have a history of fighting oppression not opposing it. This bill should not be brought to a vote.”

“I lived transgender twelve years,” Ted Halley said. “I have done everything you can do. I cut stuff off. I got rid of it. Three years ago I realized there are only two genders: male and female. It is important that we identify truth historically. I even feel like that we are crazy to be here, to define what is a man what is a woman has been known since the creation of time.”

“This bill is also important for those that do identify as different genders than the sex they were born,” Halley said. “In medical situations if a doctor does not know your true sex they can do real harm in emergency situations. I suffered for 55 years. I don’t think that there is anybody here who can out scar me.”

Weaver emphasized, “This came from the women’s rights group.”

“I am conflicted with this bill,” said Senator Linda Coleman-Madison (D-Birmingham). “I don’t see the need for this. I do see the problems that it is going to cause.”

“I don’t know how you can call yourselves a women’s right organization if you are not fighting for the rights of all women,” said Sen. Merika Coleman (D-Birmingham).

The committee voted to adopt both amendments. The committee voted 6 to 3 in favor of giving SB62 a favorable report. It could be considered by the full Senate as early as Wednesday.

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