A new law taking effect on January 1 officially recognizes biological sex in North Carolina. The law, House Bill 805, biological sex is defined as the “indication of male and female in the context of reproductive potential or capacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individual’s psychological, chosen, or subjective experience of gender.”
While the law recognizes biology, it also defines gender identity as “an individual’s self-declared identity that may not align with biological sex and, being a subjective internal sense, shall not be treated as legally or biologically equivalent to sex.”
Governor Josh Stein (D) vetoed the bill in July, although it was overridden by state lawmakers. “Instead of preventing sexual exploitation, the General Assembly chooses to engage in divisive, job-killing culture wars. North Carolina has been down this road before, and it is a dead end,” Stein wrote in his explanation for the veto. “My faith teaches me that we are all children of God no matter our differences and that it is wrong to target vulnerable people, as this legislation does. I stand ready to work with the legislature when it gets serious about protecting people, instead of mean-spirited attempts to further divide us by marginalizing vulnerable North Carolinians.”
Several other states have laws recognizing biological reality. In May, the Texas Senate passed a bill declaring that males and females “possess unique immutable biological differences that manifest prior to birth and increase as individuals age and experience puberty.”
