WV Senate passes bill making it easier to discriminate

CHARLESTON- The West Virginia Senate passed a bill Monday mainly aimed at overturning local ordinances that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill could also impact local bans on conversion therapy and discrimination based on hair texture.

Senate Bill 579 prohibits and voids any ordinances that recognize additional protected classes: groups of people that are legally protected from discrimination or harassment based on a shared characteristic. The West Virginia Human Rights Act currently recognizes race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, blindness, disability and familial status as protected classes.

This bill’s passage comes after 20 West Virginia municipalities have passed local fairness ordinances protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender West Virginians from discrimination within their borders. 

Senator Mike Oliverio, R- Monongalia, opposed SB 579, saying that he could not vote for it as a representative of the cities in his district that have passed local non-discrimination ordinances. 

“I think about the actions of those city council members who conducted public meetings, and committee meetings of the whole, and public readings and public votes where they solicited the input from their constituents—who are my constituents as well—who reached the conclusion that the right thing to do was to adopt these ordinances and resolutions,” Oliverio said.

Senator Joey Garcia, D- Marion, opposed SB 579, saying that municipal non-discrimination ordinances are filling a void left by the Human Rights Act.

“I am thankful for these municipalities who have taken that courage to step up and protect people where we as a legislature have decided that we are not going to do so,” Garcia said.

The bill’s lead sponsor, Senator Brian Helton, R- Fayette, said his bill would bring uniformity to law in West Virginia. He also argued that the state’s Human Rights Act is sufficient to protect West Virginians, and that protected classes are based on characteristics that are “immutable and unchangeable.”

Gov. Patrick Morrisey recently signed legislation that defines sex as immutable and unchangeable, essentially saying that West Virginia’s state government does not recognize the existence of transgender people. 

“Limiting protected classes to those defined in the state Human Rights act stops a continuous expansion of classes. Where does it end? It leads to overreach,” Helton said. 

Helton also took time to defend conversion therapy, which multiple West Virginia cities have banned via local ordinances—local ordinances that could be overturned by SB 579. 

Conversion therapy is a pseudoscientific practice that attempts to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The American Medical Association and numerous other medical associations oppose conversion therapy because of the “significant long term harm” it can cause, including depression, anxiety, lowered self-esteem and self-blame. 

Helton described the practice of conversion therapy as “helping a child understand their biological sex” and dismissed its known negative effects. 

Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, who is a doctor, noted that 21 states and 70 major cities have banned conversion therapy.  He also added that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld those bans on three separate occasions before he voted against SB 579, saying it would undermine local control.

“This is essentially trying to hypnotize a child to say they are straight,” Takubo said. 

In addition to impacting LGBTQ+ West Virginians, SB 579’s passage could overturn local protections for other groups of people. 

At least six West Virginia municipalities have adopted ordinances that prohibit discrimination based on hair texture and hairstyles commonly worn by people of color. Although state lawmakers have regularly introduced legislation to enshrine this protection on the state level, it has never reached either chamber’s floor for a vote. 

Senator Fuller, R-Wayne, a co-sponsor of SB 579, said municipal non-discrimination ordinances could also be a slippery slope, because they could allow “sanctuary cities” that treat undocumented people as a protected class. The Legislature passed a bill banning sanctuary cities in 2023.

Fuller continued his comments on the bill by equating being transgender to identifying as an animal and saying that transgender individuals should accept their sex at birth.

 “What if my child wants to think that he’s a cat, or a dog? Let’s do that too, let’s turn into California because that’s exactly the road we’re going to go down if we continue to neglect common sense,” Fuller said. “It’s trying to tell our children that the biology that we’ve been taught the last hundred years or more is wrong. There are two genders or two sexes. . . God did not make mistakes.” 

After pointing out that this bill would also overturn eight local ordinances offering protections for veterans, Senator Ryan Weld, R- Brooke, opposed the bill, calling it “dumb.” 

“In West Virginia we like to say ‘All are welcome,’ but this bill is undermining that message. What kind of message does this send to the outside world?” Weld asked. “You’re welcome in West Virginia unless you bring along employees that are a little bit different, and we’re gonna make sure that they’re not afforded the protections that some of these cities offer.” 

SB 579 ultimately passed 25-8-1. Senators Donna Boley, R-Pleasants; Charlie Clements, R-Wetzel; Joey Garcia, D-Marion; Bill Hamilton, R-Upshur; Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia; Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha; Ryan Weld, R-Brooke; and Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell voted against the legislation. Senator Laura Wakim-Chapman, R-Ohio, was absent.

The bill now heads to the House of Delegates for consideration.