SIGNED AND DELIVERED – Gov. Patrick Morrisey holds up a signed ceremonial copy of SB 456, the Riley Gaines Act, on Wednesday. -- Steven Allen Adams

CHARLESTON — Gov. Patrick Morrisey and the namesake for the Riley Gaines Act — defining sex and gender in State Code — celebrated the bill completing legislative action Wednesday after lawmakers agreed to remove a controversial provision from the bill.

Morrisey and Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swim team member and ambassador for conservative advocacy group Independent Women’s Voice, held a ceremonial bill signing Wednesday afternoon following Senate Bill 456, the Riley Gaines Act, completing the legislative process Tuesday.

Morrisey announced the Riley Gaines Act during his State of the State address on Feb. 12 when the 2025 legislative session convened. Morrisey announced a partnership on his second day in office on Jan. 14 with the Legislature to pass a law setting legal definitions for gender in State Code.

“I said in my State of the State speech that West Virginia was going to lead with common sense, and that’s exactly what we’re here to do today,” Morrisey said. “It’s common sense that there are two sexes. It’s common sense that boys should not be competing with girls in sports. It’s common sense that women’s spaces, like bathrooms, locker rooms, domestic violence shelters and rape crisis centers should be kept private for women only. That’s why today I am proud to sign into law the Riley Gains Act.”

The Riley Gaines Act defines the terms “sex,” “male,” and “female” in State Code, basing those definitions on biological sex at birth. The bill further states that males and females are legally equal, but they are not biologically the same; possess unique and immutable biological differences that manifest prior to birth; and are not similarly situated in all circumstances and are not interchangeable.

The bill aims to limit spaces to biological males and females, prohibiting transgender individuals from using facilities based on the gender they identify as, such as changing rooms, locker rooms, shower rooms, sleeping quarters on trips, and domestic violence shelters. The bill also includes a trigger that would prohibit transgender students from using the bathroom consistent with their gender identity should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn a lower court decision.

Gaines first made headlines in 2022 after competing against Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who was on the University of Pennsylvania’s swim team. Gaines is one of several college athletes suing the NCAA over its policies regarding transgender athletes. Gaines campaigned with Morrisey during the 2024 GOP primary for governor.

“Today we are here to celebrate a big win for the state of West Virginia, but a broader win that will transcend into all of the other states in this nation,” Gaines said. “Thankfully, you guys are fortunate to have a governor who has taken the decisive action that he has so you no longer have to imagine a society where sex-based rights don’t exist.”

SB 456 completed the legislative process Tuesday after the House of Delegates agreed to a Senate amendment to the bill, striking an amendment made to the bill Friday offered by House Judiciary Committee Chairman J.B. Akers, R-Kanawha.

Aker’s amendment stated “… nothing in this article may be construed as authorizing any person other than a treating health care provider to visually or physically examine a minor child for purposes of verifying the biological sex of the child without the consent of the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian.”

The state Senate struck out Aker’s amendment, replacing it with nothing in the article “shall be construed as authorizing an examination of a minor for purposes of determining the minor’s biological sex. The biological sex of a minor is determined by reference to the minor’s biological sex recorded at the minor’s time of birth.”

The removal of the Akers amendment came after outcries from the public over the weekend over the concern that children could potentially face examinations to confirm a child’s gender. The state Democratic Party and the House Democratic caucus sent out several press releases condemning the amendment.

“This amendment that came out of the work of the House is extremely dangerous,” said state Democratic Party Chairman and Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, during a floor debate Tuesday. “What that does is say the school nurse doesn’t need consent to do these examinations. That’s what the (Akers) amendment said and that is what we passed out of here (Friday.) I would agree with the Senate.”

Speaking Tuesday morning on “The Dave Allen Show” on the WCHS Network in Charleston, Akers said his amendment Friday was in response to a failed amendment offered by Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, which would have prohibited the inspection of the genitalia of any adult or any child without parental consent.

“I really don’t want to even open that door about talking about examining children, because I don’t want that to happen anywhere,” Akers said. “But when the Democrats proposed that, there was a discussion about do we just try to vote that down?

“I’m 1,000 percent against kids being examined,” Akers continued. “It was a very narrow carve out in the event that there was some health care situation in place like a corrections facility … where a parent couldn’t be there.”

SB 456 makes the first of Morrisey’s public policy agenda to be signed into law as the 60-day legislative session reaches the halfway mark today.