Attorney General Fitch Signs the Women’s Bill of Rights to Protect Women’s Safety, Privacy, and Opportunity

Today, Attorney General Lynn Fitch became the first State Attorney General to sign the Women’s Bill of Rights. Sponsored by the Independent Women’s Voice, this statement affirms the legal basis for maintaining single-sex spaces, like rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, athletic teams, locker rooms and sororities.

“Feminism, once understood as the way to promote equality for women, is today disintegrating in an identity crisis of its own making,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “But it is not only legitimate for women to have a space of their own in which to grow and thrive, it is good for society to carve out that safe space for women to engage with one another in athletics, education, fellowship, and sometimes even in healing.”

“Too often, radical activists attack and try to silence anyone who speaks the truth about biological sex-differences. By supporting the Women’s Bill of Rights, AG Fitch has demonstrated that she is willing to stand up for equal opportunity, for common sense, and for science. We are grateful for AG Fitch’s support,” said Heather R. Higgins, CEO of Independent Women’s Voice.

General Fitch has joined her fellow State Attorneys General in several lawsuits, amicus briefs, and letters to fight against the Biden Administration’s efforts to mis-apply Supreme Court precedent and read an expansive definition of sex and sex discrimination into Title IX and other school programs that have leveled the playing field for girls in school athletics and academics for decades. The Administration’s coordinated efforts would prohibit sex-separated sports teams, showers and locker rooms, and more in schools.

The Women’s Bill of Rights has been signed by more than 8,700 citizens across the country, as well as state legislators, U.S. Senators, and members of Congress.

The full text of the Women’s Bill of Rights is:

Whereas, males and females possess unique and immutable biological differences that manifest prior to birth and increase as they age and experience puberty;

Whereas, biological differences between the sexes mean that only females are able to get pregnant, give birth, and breastfeed children;

Whereas, biological differences between the sexes mean that males are, on average, bigger, stronger, and faster than females;

Whereas, biological differences between the sexes leave females more physically vulnerable than males to specific forms of violence, including sexual violence;

Whereas, females have historically suffered from discrimination in education, athletics, and employment;

Whereas, biological differences between the sexes are enduring and may, in some circumstances, warrant the creation of separate social, educational, athletic, or other spaces in order to ensure safety and/or to allow members of each sex to succeed and thrive;

Whereas, inconsistencies in court rulings and policy initiatives with respect to the definitions of ‘sex,’ ‘male,’ ‘female,’ ‘man,’ and ‘woman’ have led to endangerment of single-sex spaces and resources, thereby necessitating clarification of certain terms,

We affirm that:

For purposes of state/federal law, a person’s ‘sex’ is defined as his or her biological sex (either male or female) at birth;

For purposes of state/federal law, a ‘female’ is an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to produce ova; a ‘male’ is an individual whose biological reproductive system is developed to fertilize the ova of a female;

For purposes of state/federal law, ‘woman’ and ‘girl’ refer to human females, and the terms ‘man’ and ‘boy’ refer to human males;

For purposes of state/federal law, the word ‘mother’ is defined as a parent of the female sex and ‘father’ is defined as a parent of the male sex;

When it comes to sex, ‘equal’ does not mean ‘same’ or ‘identical’;

When it comes to sex, separate is not inherently unequal;

There are legitimate reasons to distinguish between the sexes with respect to athletics, prisons or other detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis centers, locker rooms, restrooms, and other areas where biology, safety, and/or privacy are implicated;

Policies and laws that distinguish between the sexes are subject to intermediate constitutional scrutiny, which forbids unfair discrimination against similarly-situated males and females but allows the law to distinguish between the sexes where such distinctions are substantially related to important governmental objectives;

Any public school or school district and any federal/state/local agency, department, or office that collects vital statistics for the purpose of complying with anti-discrimination laws or for the purpose of gathering accurate public health, crime, economic or other data shall identify each individual who is part of the collected data set as either male or female at birth.

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