Senator Karin Housley (R-Stillwater) has authored a duo of bills that prioritize protecting women and girls at all stages of life.
The first bill titled the Minnesota Women’s Bill of Rights focuses solely on reaffirming legal protections afforded to women under federal law. It would delete the word “gender” and insert the word “sex” when the term is standing alone in any state statute. This would ensure the definition of a woman is consistent with science and biology, and is interpreted the same way across all state laws.
“This is not about denying access or limiting the rights of anyone, it is simply about uplifting, protecting, and empowering women and girls,” said Housley. “Too many women have spoken up about feeling unsafe because of the recent policy changes that have opened up the definitions of ‘girl’ and ‘woman’, and they feel like their concerns have been ignored. Over in Wisconsin, Governor Evers would like to change the definition of mother to be an ‘inseminated person” Can you imagine wishing your mother ‘Happy Inseminated Person’s Day’? We have lost the definition of what a woman is, a female is and even a mother is – and I want to fix that. The Minnesota Women’s Bill of Rights is about listening to women, giving them a voice, and addressing their concerns in a meaningful way.”
The second bill creates an Exemption for Women’s Athletics in the Human Rights Act, stating that sex shall be determined based on a person’s reproductive biology, and women’s athletics should be exclusionary to anyone who is male, irrespective of their gender identity.
“All of my girls were in hockey when they were growing up – it’s an incredibly physical sport,” continued Housley. “There is no reason that someone with a biological advantage should be in the same field of play. It hurts our girls when we force them to play contact sports with those that have a biological physical advantage. We don’t want to limit anyone’s access to competitive sports, we just want to ensure young girls feels safe and protected in the sports they choose to play.”
Despite a recent federal executive order to prevent transgender athletes from participating in women’s/girls’ sports, last month the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) said they will disregard the directive and follow Minnesota’s law on transgender athletes. Notably, the NCAA also responded to the executive order by updating their policy to limit competition in women’s sports to student-athletes assigned female at birth only.
“At the end of the day, we want to support girls when they’re growing up – we want to empower little girls and let them know anything is possible, and they will be protected in any endeavor they want to explore, sports or otherwise. These bills are a good step in the direction of once again uplifting women and girls at every stage in their lives,” Housley finished.
Housley joined Senate Republicans in taking a clear stand to protect girls’ sports today. In a floor motion, they voted to bring up a bill ensuring that only biological female student-athletes compete in girls’ sports at the elementary and secondary levels in Minnesota. The motion failed on a party-line vote.