Mississippi House and Senate pass 'Women's Bill of Rights'
The Mississippi House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill dubbed as the "Women's Bill of Rights."
The Mississippi House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill dubbed as the “Women’s Bill of Rights,” protecting women and girls from males seeking to enter female-only spaces and competitions by identifying as transgender.
Mississippi HB 1607 ties the words “man,” “woman,” “boy,” “girl,” “male,” and “female” to sex. It deals with athletics, shelters, and prisons, and was passed by the Mississippi Senate on Wednesday after the House passed the bill.
Independent Women’s Forum spokeswoman Paula Scanlan said that the bill also helps victims of domestic violence.
“There are places like shelters and women’s prisons,” said Scanlan. “We’re hearing stories across the country of women going to women-only shelters after being abused and their abuser is able to follow them because they show up to the shelter and say they identify (as) a woman. And there’s nothing in law to prevent someone who thinks that they are a woman from entering that space, and that puts victims of domestic violence into very dangerous situations.”
Riley Gaines, director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute, praised the bill’s passage on X.
”Lots of movement this week on the Women’s Bill of Rights (bill that codifies words like woman) in the states,” Gaines wrote on X. “WBOR passed in the Mississippi House & Senate with bipartisan support. One more step before it reaches Gov Reeves desk.”
[RELATED: Ole Miss grants up to $2k in extra funding for student groups that push DEI]
The bill will be returned to the Mississippi House of Representatives for a final vote before heading to the governor’s desk.
