Bill To Mandate Restroom Use By Biological Sex Fails In Wyoming

A bill that would mandate separate accommodations based on a person's sex at birth has failed to win introduction in the Wyoming House of Representatives despite getting a majority voting in favor.

You can read House Bill 50--known as the ''What is A Woman Act"--here. The bill would mandate separate restrooms and other accommodations based on the following definitions:

"Female" means a person whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova and/or who exhibits XX chromosomes and does not exhibit a Y chromosome;

 (iii)  "Male" means a person whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female and/or who exhibits XY chromosomes or exhibits a Y chromosome;"

Supporters of the bill argue that it is needed to protect women. In floor discussion of the measure on Thursday, sponsor Jeanette Ward referred to a lawsuit by members of a sorority who claimed that a trans member was a sexual predator whose presence made them uncomfortable. Opponents of the legislation claim it is prejudiced against transgender people.

While the bill got a 37-24 majority in favor of introduction on Thursday, that majority fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to introduce a non-budget bill during the current budget session of the Wyoming Legislature.

You can hear the floor discussion of the measure in the audio file attached to this article. Representative Ward was the only speaker. No one spoke against the measure.