GOP Drafts ‘Women’s Bill of Rights’ To Fight Transgender Ideology

Women's Bill of Rights press conference
The Republican Study Committee
Neil Munro

Republican legislators are backing a new Women’s Bill of Rights that would rebuke transgender activists’ claim that men and women are interchangeable.

The resolution codifies into law Americans’ common-sense recognition that women and men are different and complementary.

If enacted by Congress, it would pave the way for lawsuits to block the aggressive push by the Biden administration to legally enforce the transgender claim that each person’s unverifiable, mix-and-match “gender identity” determines their legal sex.

“As the Left continues to erase women, we must fight for women and their place in our society,” Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) said at a Thursday press conference on Capitol Hill with several other GOP legislators.

The Women’s Bill of Rights directly attacks transgender ideology by defining each person’s legal sex as their biological sex.

“Whether it’s keeping the word ‘mother’ in written law, or ensuring women’s domestic violence shelters do not have to accept biological men, we must stand up for women,” said Lesko, who headed a press conference on May 18 to announce the new legislation.

The resolution is likely to be endorsed by nearly all GOP House members and by many senators.

The resolution is backed by multiple groups from a wide range of perspectives, including conservatives, moderates, and even some left-wing feminists, all of whom share the foundational belief that women’s rights and social status rely on the understanding that women’s bodies are different than men’s bodies. These groups say that transgender ideology is a direct threat to women’s rights and status because it seeks to suppress this understanding.

The GOP’s growing involvement in federal and state disputes over sex and gender suggests that the GOP leadership will use the issue during the 2022 elections — and then will legislate against transgender ideology in 2023.

That trend may help bring many women back into the GOP’s column in 2022 and in 2024. If this strategy succeeds electorally, it may pressure the GOP’s donor-focused leaders to legally define each person’s legal gender to match their biological sex.

So far, the GOP’s leadership has avoided that fight. According to one GOP-aligned activist, these Republicans worry that opposing Democrats on gender-identity issues will make it more difficult to secure bargains on the economic issues that are more important to Republican donors.

The resolution reads:

Whereas males and females possess unique and immutable biological differences that manifest prior to birth and increase as they age and experience puberty;

Whereas biological differences between the sexes mean that only females may get pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed children;

Whereas biological differences between the sexes mean that males are, on average, larger in size and possess greater body strength than females;

Whereas biological differences between the sexes can expose females to more harm than males from specific forms of violence, including sexual violence;

Whereas women have achieved inspirational and significant accomplishments in education, athletics, and employment; and

Whereas recent misguided court rulings related to the definition of ‘‘sex’’ have led to endangerment of spaces and resources dedicated to women, thereby necessitating clarification of certain terms: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives reaffirms that—

(1) for purposes of Federal law, a person’s ‘‘sex’’ means his or her biological sex (either male or female) at birth; (2) for purposes of Federal law addressing sex, the terms ‘‘woman’’ and ‘‘girl’’ refer to human females, and the terms ‘‘man’’ and ‘‘boy’’ refer to human males;

(3) for purposes of Federal law, the word ‘‘mother’’ means a parent of the female sex and ‘‘fa1ther’’ is defined as a parent of the male sex;

(4) there are important reasons to distinguish between the sexes with respect to athletics, prisons, domestic violence shelters, restrooms, and other areas, particularly where biology, safety, and privacy are implicated;

(5) policies and laws that distinguish between the sexes are subject to intermediate constitutional scrutiny and permitted when they serve an important governmental objective and are substantially related to achieving that objective.

The four original Republican sponsors of the resolution are Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL), and Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN).

They have quickly won support from Republican Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Barry Moore (R-AL), and Ralph Norman (R-SC).

The declaration is backed by Women’s Liberation Front, Family Policy Alliance, Eagle Forum, Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), Women’s Declaration International USA, Independent Women’s Voice, Independent Women’s Law Center, Concerned Women for America LAC, Heritage Action for America, and the American Principles Project.

Over the last few years, radical transgender ideology has taken root in many U.S. government agencies, companies, media outlets, and universities, even as it remains unpopular with the public and European health agencies warn of growing healthcare risks.

The public is skeptical of the revolutionary claims of transgender ideologues, in part because the transgender advocates prey on insecure children and groom them for life-changing, irreversible, and deeply damaging chemical, hormonal, and surgical procedures.

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