FIRST ON FOX: West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey hosted former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines in Charleston on Wednesday to sign into law the Riley Gaines Act — codifying the definitions of “man” and “woman” into state law.
The bill, sponsored by Senate President Randy Smith, R-Blackwater Falls, and Minority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Huntington, passed overwhelmingly in the 31-3 GOP-majority upper chamber.
A sole Democrat, Sen. Joey Garcia of Fairmont, voted “nay,” and the House approved the Senate’s bill 90-8 along party lines.
According to text of the measure, it “reaffirms longstanding meaning[s]” of sex, male and female in state law, preserves women’s restrooms, sleeping quarters, locker rooms and other private facilities for the sole use of women – to prevent “abuse, harassment, sexual assault and violence committed by men.”
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Gov. Patrick Morrisey, Riley Gaines, IWF’s Heather Higgins (r.), and Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Charles Town, (l.) are seen at a bill-signing event. (Screenshot/Gov. Patrick Morrisey)
Morrisey said Wednesday he was inspired by the story of 14-year-old shot-put athlete Emmy Salerno from Shinnston, outside Clarksburg.
Salerno and her teammates refused to participate in the 2023 Harrison County middle school championship event as a protest against being primed to compete against a transgender student athlete.
Morrisey, then attorney general, threw his support behind a lawsuit over the situation.
“This is an incredible day for West Virginia,” Morrisey said Wednesday, noting that Gaines, along with Independent Women’s Forum president Heather Higgins, stood beside him.
He went on to credit House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay; state Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Charles Town; and Del. Kathie Hess Crouse, R-Buffalo, as crucial in getting the law passed: “I worked on this issue for a very long time, and even right now we have multiple…
