New Mexico Lawmakers propose bill to define ‘male’ and ‘female’
By Stephanie Muñiz
Click here for updates on this story
SANTA FE, New Mexico (KOAT) — The conversation of transgender women participating in competitive sports has been a nationwide discussion.
A proposal at the roundhouses would address that topic in New Mexico.
“This is nothing to do with transgender or identifying as transgender; this is about biology,” Republican Rep. Andrea Reeb said. “We’ve worked so long and so many years with Title 9 and all these different things to be proud of women in sports.”
House Bill 205 starts off by defining words like “boy,” “father,” “male,” “female,” “girl” and “sex.”
For Marshall Martinez with Equality New Mexico, it brings a concern about the trans community.
“By saying we exist in this binary, we are going to accept this one definition. This legislation is clearly writing trans people out of existence,” Martinez said.
Reeb says this bill aims to prevent discrimination against biological women, especially in sports.
“I don’t want it to take this realm or this idea that there’s anything wrong with being transgender or identifying as transgender. What we are saying is that you are not going to do it on the backs of women. And women who are competing in sports,” Reeb said.
The bill includes requirements to have private areas for biological men and women in prisons, locker rooms, college campuses, bathrooms and shelters for women.
The bill would also require schools and government agencies to categorize men and women biologically.
“The government should not be in the business of defining people; we should be able to define ourselves,” Martinez said. “It’s an attack on trans people without saying, which is really frankly more disturbing than just saying outright.”
The bill is currently in the House Rules and order of the Business Committee.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
