Sex definition bill moves to Idaho House floor despite lack of support in public hearing

BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — A bill to change the legal definition of “sex” under Idaho law is making its way to the House floor after it passed in the House State Affairs Committee on Wednesday morning.

House Bill 421, which was first introduced last week, would redefine “sex” as “an individual’s biological sex, either male or female.” It would also consider the word gender as a synonym of that definition of sex, and create legal definitions of the words boy, father, female, girl, male and mother.

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The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot, said the bill gives legislators a “basic understanding” of male and female. She said that these terms were used in Idaho law with the assumption that everyone shared a common understanding of their meanings.

“Having clear definitions is critical to our ability to both communicate and to craft policy,” she said. “By clearly tying the term gender to terms such as male and female, we are now able to have a clear policy discussion that clearly communicates what we intend to say.”

Young said she consulted with the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, and Alliance Defending Freedom, a religious conservative legal organization, to develop the proposed definitions. 

Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, said he supports the legislation. He said the legislation would have been useful when crafting last year’s House Bill 71 — a controversial law that would have banned puberty blockers, hormones and surgical interventions for Idaho youth seeking gender-affirming care. House Bill 71 was signed into law last year, but a federal judge blocked it from taking effect in a lawsuit.

After hearing more than an hour of testimony, members of the committee voted to send the bill to the floor of the House of Representatives with a recommendation that it pass. 

Opponents argue bill is ‘exclusionary,’ contributes to transgender erasure

All 15 people who signed up to testify Wednesday spoke in opposition of the bill, many of whom identified as transgender. They argued that the legislation would erase and invalidate their existence, while also disregarding medical and academic consensus.

Merrick Collins, a transgender man, said during his testimony that he has identified as a man for seven years, noting that taking testosterone has been one of the best decisions he has made.

“Look at my proud beard, listen to my deepest voice,” Collins said. “I am a man. To consider me forever a woman despite all of this to make me use women’s facilities and group me with women legally and socially is an insult to myself and women.”

Those that testified said that under the definition of mother and father, they are concerned the bill would leave room for discriminatory practices against same-sex parents. Others said the bill includes problematic language such as “rare disorders,” when referring to intersex people. 

Other testimonies included a mental health counselor, a minister and representatives from advocacy groups including the ACLU of Idaho, Legal Voice and Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates — all of whom argued the legislation would invalidate people with diverse gender identities.

The Rev. Sara LaWall, a minister at the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, testified that while she teaches the inherent worth and dignity of all people in her faith, she said this legislation would have a personal impact on her as a mom of a transgender daughter. 

“I am heartbroken and so angry that the language of this bill seeks to utterly dismiss and disregard her identity and that of many in our community,” LaWall said. ”It is clear to me that this law is religiously based — privileging one religious doctrine, one theological claim above all others. You know this religious doctrine is not shared by all faith traditions.”