Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 2, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Several Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to clarify that the terms “male,” “female,” and “sex,” among others, refer to the biological distinctions between men and women when those words are used in laws.
The Defining Male and Female Act of 2024, introduced by Sen. Roger Marshall from Kansas, aims to prevent government officials and courts from reinterpreting those terms through the lens of gender ideology by identifying men and women based on self-identification instead of biological distinctions.
Marshall said in a statement that he “didn’t think we would need legislation to tell us that there are only two sexes, male and female, but here we are.”
According to a news release, the legislation would restore the legal right to reserve girls’ and women’s sports and scholarships for biological girls and women. The news release also states that the bill would restore the sex separation of restrooms, locker rooms, dorm rooms, prisons, and shelters for victims of sexual assault.
“As a physician who has delivered over 5,000 babies, I can confidently say that politicizing children’s gender to use them as pawns in their radical woke agenda is not only wrong, it is extremely dangerous,” Marshall said. “We must codify the legal definition of sex to be based on science rather than feelings. With our legislation, we can fight back against the Biden-Harris administration’s assault on our children.”
Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said in a statement that “men and women have biological differences that must be recognized.” He added that “women and girls deserve to feel safe and respected in all spaces, public and private.”
The legislation is designed to unwind policies that were enacted during the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Under the current administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reinterpreted the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition on “sex” discrimination to include any discrimination on the basis of so-called “gender identity.” The rule was blocked by a judge but would have forced health care providers and insurers to cover transgender drugs and surgeries for both adults and minors.
The administration also revised Title IX regulations to redefine sex discrimination to include any discrimination based on gender identity. This could have forced publicly funded schools and colleges to allow biological men in women’s locker rooms, dormitories, and athletic competitions. However, its enforcement is limited after multiple courts blocked implementation.
“Since taking office in 2021, the Biden-Harris administration has embarked on a radical transgender agenda, preying on vulnerable youth and endangering women and girls in sports and locker rooms,” Rep. Mary Miller, R-Illinois, said in a statement.
“This agenda was soundly rejected by the American people on Nov. 5, and we now have a clear mandate to stop this insanity,” Miller said. “The Defining Male and Female Act will prevent any future administration from ever again redefining Title IX, and I’m thrilled to work with Sen. Marshall in sending it to President Trump’s desk next year.”
The proposed legislation would declare that “every individual is either male or female” and that “an individual’s sex can be observed or clinically verified at or before birth.” It adds that “in no case is an individual’s sex determined by stipulation or self-identification.”
The bill would further clarify that laws separating facilities and athletic competitions based on biological sex “do not constitute unequal treatment under the law.”
Under the law, the following words would be clearly defined based on biological distinctions: man, woman, male, female, boy, girl, mother, and father.
The proposal adds that the word gender “shall be considered a synonym for sex” and “shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role” unless the explicit definitions of that law indicate otherwise.
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[Sen Roger] Marshall said in a statement that he didn’t think we would need legislation to tell us that there are only two sexes, male and female, but here we are’. Law has a foundation, in its barest but required sense is Natural Law. Natural Law is not discovered in books, it’s arrived at by common sense and right reason conviction in the observation of human acts, whether conscience tells us they are good or evil, right or wrong.
Law cannot be beholden to scattered whims, individual desires counter to what has been recognized clearly indicated biologically in the human form. There is no right for a man to decide to be a woman and invade women’s locker rooms and bathrooms, and participate in women’s sports. They have the unfortunate right to adapt themselves to disordered behavior, they have no right whatsoever to impose their perverted predilections on an ordered society.
Law references justice, what is just and right. What is just and good is common to our human nature because of that intelligible law within us.
There are sports where men and women compete together. The best example I can think of is figure skating.
There are various sexualities competing at all levels of the sport, especially in the Adult level, which generally consists of adults who were never close to being “champions” on the National, International, and World stages of the sport, but enjoyed the sport and even passed the most advanced figure skating tests to achieve a high level (e.g., Junior, Senior) in the sport, and as adults, wish to continue the sport they love.
My late husband participated in Adult figure skating in the ice dance discipline for many years, and he knew and was friends with quite a few “trans” skaters. But these folks did not compete on a public stage where they were seen on TV or other media–they do the sport because they love the sport, and if they win a medal, every other adult is happy for them. No money or endorsement deals are at stake–it’s just grown-ups having fun with a sport that they love and working on their skills with other adults.
At the “elite” levels of figure skating that we see on TV- it is rare for trans people to compete in the demanding sport of figure skating and advance in the sport. Our current U.S. champion, Amber Glenn, identifies as “pansexual”, which means romantic or other attraction to all genders. But biologically, she is a woman and competes against other biological women, and she doesn’t always win. (Most figure skaters don’t always win!)
At this time in U.S. history, figure skating does not enjoy the tremendous popularity that it used to benefit from. I think the current judging system has confused and alienated many fans, who loved the “6.0” system. It’s really hard to chant, “210.46, 210.46!! (the score that Ms. Glenn earned to win the National Championship last season!
But my two adult daughters still compete in the discipline of synchronized skating, and this discipline allows men and women of all sexualities to compete on teams TOGETHER. For the most part, synchro teams are mainly female, but our National Champions, the Haydenettes, have enjoyed having men on their teams for decades now. There’s no advantage to having men on a synchro team.
I wish the sport could become popular again. The loss of sponsors (and their funding) is hurting the sport. Please give it a chance!
Certainly correct regards sports in which a man and woman are a team in which mutual talent is enhanced. It’s when men and women are pitted physically against eachother that’s at issue.
Figure skating, especially male female pairs is a favorite. The male and the female compliment the uniqueness of their opposite gifts.
Mrs. Sharon, with respect do we need to adopt newspeak verbiage like “sexuality”? We’re either male or female. I’m uninterested in what anyone is attracted to romantically whether it’s animal, vegetable, or mineral. If folks are suffering from sexual confusion then that’s a private conversation between them & their therapist or spiritual advisor.
Yes, mrscracker, it’s not incumbent upon the rest of us to accommodate aberrant behavior or lifestyles.
Thank you Tyler for highlighting this legislation in a very well written article. I hope I’m wrong but I’m thinking the dems will opose this bill.
Absolutely astounding we have come to the point of needing to define male and female legally. Akin to coming to the point of having to define cat and dog legally. We can treat both cats and dogs with compassion and love, regardless of the personalities they have, but somehow need a law to make sure that cats are not allowed in dog shows and vice versa, and people are not forced to pay for veterinarian care to convert a cat to a dog and vice versa. I mean, for heavens sake, I have to go in via the dog door with my dog to the Vet, and stay on the dog side, so as not to upset the cat side, and vice versa. I know we are talking about humans, and mean no disrespect at all, but I am just making the point that we, as humans, can treat everyone with the love and compassion they are born deserving as children of God, and have grown ill from trying to distort that love and compassion into being forced to accept cats into dog shows and dogs onto cat litter areas etc. All because a cat insists on being called a dog and a dog insists on being called a cat.
The sea saw whimsinesss of gender legislation is the product of a society without a common morality. A win today is a loss tomorrow. The only way out is for the Church to teach the truth and for the Holy Spirit to open minds and hearts to be receptive to the truth , and to apply it to their lives. Changing laws is only a temporary quick fix. Changing the signs on bathroom doors does not change the people who use them.
Necessary, but a sad day when “man and woman” are objectified as “male and female”…
Adam named everything, except God–the unspoken Word. And, about the woman Eve, Genesis gives us two different stories, one where she is created after Adam, and one where they are created simultaneously. About the “Original Unity of [binary and complementary] Man and Woman,” we have the opening sessions of St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body; Catechesis on the Book of Genesis” (1979-1980).
In a footnote, about simultaneity, partly this: “The original text states: ‘God created man (ha-adam–a collective noun: ‘humanity’?), in his own image: in the image of God he created him (zakar–masculine) and female (uneqebah–feminine) he created them’ [Gn. 1:27].”
In a later footnote, this: “It is interesting to note that for the ancient Sumerians the cuneiform sign to indicate the noun ‘rib’ coincided with the one used to indicate the word life’. As for the Yahwist narrative, according to a certain interpretation of Genesis 2:21, God rather covers the rib with flesh (instead of closing up its place with flesh) and in this way ‘makes’ the woman, who comes from the ‘flesh and bones’ of the first man (male).” Following comes a discussion of both original sin and original innocence, and nuptiality.
But, hey, if a member of the United States Supreme Court cannot define a “woman” at all, then maybe in our brainstem culture we have to start with clarity about markings on bathroom doors and membership on athletic teams (our new religion). A sad day in all of human history, possibly even dwarfing the political events of January 6, 2021.
I pray that this bill becomes law. May the Holy Spirit awaken the hearts and minds of legislators to return to common sense and normalcy. Gender self-identity is ludicrous. Mother nature has given us our gender identity. To deny that, is to deny the workings of God and his established gender identities. To think otherwise is foolish.
The debate about such a bill ought to be . . . interesting. Assuming it ever gets out of committee, it may force legislators to take a stand. If it passes, let’s hope the Supreme Court upholds it, despite one Justice having declared that she can’t define “woman.”
God’s laws like “love your neighbor” never change, but man’s laws need to change to correct chaos in the land. It is the responsibility of Congress to write laws to correct chaos—like chaos at the southern border. But remember human biology can be complicated—-there are documented cases of little girls developing a penis at the age of 6 years old. Let us always treat everyone with love and compassion.
Biology regarding male and female is not complicated. And your “documented cases” is just another hoax. Treating others with love and compassion must always include honesty. Lying to people about biological reality is neither loving nor compassionate.
The bill proposed by Senator Marshall, MD, is written with superb clarity on the topic. Many people, including leaders in the Church, could gain much needed wisdom from thoughtfully reading the bill that lucidly promotes the fundamental God-provided biological reality of 2 and only 2 sexes of male and female.
The Senator’s excellent bill can be found at https://www.marshall.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/KIN2463023.pdf
Make a copy and share it with priests, relatives, friends, colleagues, and others.
Not a hoax, Tom
Not at all convincing, Gerald.
If you wish to demonstrate that your claim is not another hoax (or just absurd) as I believe it is, and that I and others should accept your claim, all you need do is provide specific references to the documented evidence you claim exists so I and others can check the documented evidence, or you can reference specific reports or articles about the claim and the evidence supporting it that also feature checkable references. Otherwise, it remains just a nonsense claim you made up that disrespects the truth.
And for your own sake, it’s time to put up or shut up to avoid making sinfully false claims.
Gerald, there are all sorts of complicated anomalies & birth defects, but at the end of the day biological human gender is binary. Period.
About “specific references to the documented evidence,” take the complicated science of human exposure to Endocrine Disruptive Compounds (EDCs) and the effects on human health and even fetal development.
The emerging science of EDCs leads to the question whether fetal exposure can even disrupt what happens (or doesn’t happen) when the fetal brain develops sexually while bodily development of the fetus/child is normally delayed two months, but then is maybe chemically disrupted. From the science, here are two reader-friendly links:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7073082/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4762757/
Think the deformed Thalidamide Babies of the late 1960s, caused by the actual marketing of a tranquilizer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide_scandal
Regarding the more unknowing and indeliberate exposure to a very wide range of ubiquitous EDCs, the correct and moral response for the birth-victims of such chemical poisoning is environmental prevention, and corrective therapy if possible, but not further surgical and chemical mutilation. As an industrial culture are we possibly poisoning our children without even knowing it? The marketing of Mifepristone might be only the tip of the iceberg.
In any event, the binary (and un-disrupted) sexuality of the human person should not be further deformed by a radically secularist and morals-challenged medical-industrial complex. And, here, let’s tread lightly when tempted to counsel readers to “shut up to avoid making sinfully false claims.”
My advice is to help people avoid sin when they are seriously misleading people, especially when they double down, because unlike softer-minded people, I care about the harm that can be done by such serious misleading to both the person doing the misleading and others who may be led astray. Another version of fraternal correction is to advise to “tread lightly” in more snowflake fashion when pointing out such things, but only after rambling on about other things completely off point as if the rambling adds weight to the snowflake admonition.
Lastly, let’s tread lightly when leaving out essential elements (“time to put up or….”) of what someone has written in order to purposely mischaracterize what was written as that is also quite sinful.
Tom Flounders.
Appreciate you sharing this Bill information, author Mr. Tyler Arnold, and the discussion following. Appreciate Fr/Dr Peter M’s Reason of Natural Law and its sanity as it’s God’s perfect Order.
Motives I’m always looking for in dissension. Lending credibility to Our Lady of Fatima’s prophecies: Russia spread its errors of atheistic Communism to China-and now obvious are their motives destroying arch rivals (non-threatening) Putin’s Russia (via NATO alliances) &the free world (esp. the United States of America).
Heard a recent article that men (our future soldiers) have 50 percent less testosterone now than men had a few decades ago ( resulting from toxins/chemicals, etc.). Poisoning our food supply; putting lead in manufactured goods shipped here, etc.; remaking/approving even fake Catholic Clergy!- allowed by liberal Francis 🙁 ; Covid Hoax to tank our Capitalism and “needed” paper ballot hoax to elect Biden (paid off millions $ by whom? o, right, China)!
Then there are movements-‘wrongs which will appear right’ in end times: Feminism; Black Lives Matter, Gender fluidity, etc. to divide (& then conquer).We’ve been targeted (but so are Israel and holy people).
Seems end times New Testament last few Books our reality today. (As a persecuted Catholic from within, [I believe] Cardinal Burke asserted something to the effect of ‘that we’re in end times now’ also within the last couple of years). Impetus for Advent penances for conversion/reversion, 🙏Rosaries and Divine Mercy Chaplets
Heard Planned Parenthood (aka “Banned Parenthood”- another author’s term) is-not only butchering our BABIES once conceived. Their dens of death are making “filthy lucre” from transgendering/carving up our YOUTH- sterilizing them before they conceive! 🙁 and all the while FUNDING DEMONCRATS’ coffers! 🙁