Attention Required! | Cloudflare
www.lgbtqnation.com

Archived link

Yesterday, the West Virginia House of Delegates approved an amendment from Del. J.B. Akers ® to allow a child’s “treating health care provider” to examine a child’s genitals without the consent of their parents.

The amendment was actually an improvement over a previous version of the bill, which, state Democrats argued, would have allowed teachers to perform the genital examinations.

Akers’ amendment was the Republican response to one proposed by Del. Kayla Young (D), which would have banned child and adult genital examinations altogether.

“It’s unconscionable that Republicans would support legislation that authorizes intrusive visual inspections of minors without parental approval,” Young said. “West Virginians should be alarmed and disgusted by this invasion of privacy.”

It also says that all intersex people are “either male or female” but does not give a basis for assigning a sex to them.

  • oxjox@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    9 hours ago

    CORRECTION: Bill passed by WV lawmakers will not allow doctors to inspect child’s genitals to confirm gender

    An amendment introduced by House Judiciary Chair J.B. Akers on March 6 would have allowed medical professionals to “to visually or physically examine a minor child for purposes of verifying the biological sex of the child without the consent of the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian.”

    That amendment was adopted into the bill.

    Before officially passing the Senate, Senator Patrick Martin (R - Lewis, 12) proposed two further amendments, one of which clarifies “that the article does not authorize certain examinations of minor children.”

    Senator Martin’s amendment nullified Delegate Akers’ amendment, thereby excluding it from the final bill.

    SB 456 was passed by the Senate Tuesday 32-1 with one Senator absent for the vote. In the House, 90 delegates voted in favor, eight opposed, and two were absent.

    Edit:
    For more clarity, here’s the first paragraph of the passed bill. https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Text_HTML/2025_SESSIONS/RS/bills/sb456 sub1 enr.pdf

    AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new article, designated §5-32-1, §5-32-2, §5-32-3, §5-32-4, §5-32-5, §5-32-6, §5-32-7, §5-32-8, and §5-32-9, relating to sex definitions and single-sex spaces; providing purposes and general application; providing findings; creating definitions; establishing a standard of review; clarifying that the article does not authorize certain examinations of minor children; providing that determination of the biological sex of a minor is determined at the minor’s time of birth; providing for certain standards applicable to domestic violence shelters, public schools, institutions of higher education, and correctional institutions; clarifying certain sex-based data collection; and providing for severability.

    • astutemural@midwest.socialEnglish
      0·
      8 hours ago

      That amendment doesn’t nullify shit. It’s waffle language. When the court cases eventually come up over this, judges will shrug and say that it doesn’t clearly forbid it, so it’s fine. Mark my words.