These states are narrowly defining who is 'female' and 'male' in law
LGBTQ advocates say these bills are another attempt to restrict transgender rights. Republicans sponsoring the bills say the definitions are important to keep sex from being conflated with gender.
Lawmakers in Montana, Tennessee and Kansas have voted in the past few weeks to narrowly define who is "female" and who is "male" in state law using such terms as "gametes," "ova," "sex chromosomes," "genitalia" and "immutable biological sex."
The bills in Montana and Tennessee have passed the legislature and are headed to governors' desks. The Kansas bill, called the "women's bill of rights," was vetoed by Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, but the Republican legislature was able to override her.
Advocates for LGBTQ rights say these bills are one more step in the ratcheting up of politics and policies against transgender and nonbinary people.
Republicans sponsoring the bills say the definitions
