WV Governor Signs ‘Riley Gaines Act’ After 14-Year-Old Girl Stands Up to Competing Against Male Athlete

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey welcomed former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines to Charleston, West Virginia, on Wednesday. The Riley Gaines Act codifies the definitions of man and woman.

This bill was sponsored by Senate President Randy Smith (R-Blackwater Falls) and minority leader Mike Woelfel (D-Huntington). It passed with a 31-3 majority in the upper chamber.

The Senate bill was approved by the House 90-8, with only one Democrat voting “nay”: Sen. Joey Garcia, Fairmont.

The text states that the bill “reaffirms” the long-standing definitions of gender, both male and female, in the state laws and preserves the women’s bathrooms, sleeping quarters, locker roooms, and other private areas for women only – to avoid “abuses, harassments, sexual assaults, and violence by men.”

Morrisey told reporters Wednesday that he had been inspired by Emmy Salerno, a 14-year-old shot-putter from Shinnston near Clarksburg.

Salerno, along with her team, refused to take part in the Harrison County Middle School Championship event in 2023 as a form of protest. They did not want to be paired up against a student athlete who was transgender.

Morrisey (then Attorney General) backed a suit over this situation.

Morrisey, who was standing alongside Gaines and Heather Higgins of the Independent Women’s Forum, said: “This is a fantastic day for West Virginia.”

He then credited House Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R-Clay), state senator Patricia Rucker (R-Charles Town), and Del. Kathie Hess Crouse (R-Buffalo) as being crucial to getting the bill passed. “I have worked on this for a long time, and we even now have several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court,” Morrisey added.

She said, “I’ve stood firm in support of the bill along with Riley Gaines.” There are biological differences that cannot be denied between women and men. Allowing men to participate in female sports and enter spaces reserved for women is both unfair and dangerous.

Hess Crouse said, “Protecting women’s sport and spaces for single-sex is important, and the law represents a win for fairness and safety, as well as women’s right.”

Rucker said to the Wheeling Intelligencer that the bill “is not a matter of hate [for transgenders] or calling or abusing them.”

It is not a violation of the rights of women to not share a space with a male, biologically. I know several transgenders and respect them. I think they deserve to be able to choose their own lives and live in safety.

Garcia, the lone Senate Democrat who is opposed to the legislation, said that transgenderism was not “a choice people make; it’s just part of their identity.” She also questioned whether the bill needed to be passed.

Mike Pushkin, West Virginia Democratic Party chairperson, denounced the ceremony on Wednesday as “a photo op for Republicans”.

I hope Riley Gaines had a good time during her short stopover in West Virginia for Gov. Morrisey’s bill will make bathrooms awesome again, said Pushkin. She is also the delegate for Charleston.

Pushkin stated that while Republicans were taking selfies with high-fives about legislation regarding who used which bathroom, West Virginians still waited for lawmakers to address real issues, such as jobs, healthcare, and safe roads to drive on.

Maybe next time, Ms. Gaines will remind Republicans to focus on real solutions for working families and fewer political stunts.

Morrisey pointed out at the event that Donald Trump has also taken a lead on this issue, with an executive order similar in nature to West Virginia legislation as well as his recent spats with the Maine Democratic Governor Janet Mills.

He said, “This issue has almost universal support.” The woke left is always firmly entrenched in its position and tries to force other parts of the country into a radical gender ideology. That’s certainly not what will happen in West Virginia. “That’s not happening in West Virginia.”

Gaines said that it was “a little bit silly” for her to receive a standing applause when she stood on Morrisey’s podium and “simply stated that men are different from women.”

Gaines became a leading voice on this issue when she competed against the University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships. Gaines shouted out to Salerno, who she said dared to speak up in a similar case. She also said that Morrisey’s leadership on this topic is refreshing.

She said, on the other hand, certain governors had clung to their “woke” definitions of biological terms and regulations for scholastic athletics.

She pointed to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, who caused a firestorm when his statewide budget proposal changed the term “mother” to “inseminated person” and “husband” to “spouse.”

Evers was criticized by Republicans from across the nation, including Brett Favre (a Wisconsin legend born in Mississippi), who called Evers’ move “nonsense.”

Evers defended his decision later, saying that it was a “way to give people a chance who are using IVF- which I think Republicans kind of okay with- and have legal certainty regarding a mother being able have an entire year of care.”

Gaines said at the Charleston event: “We have been called many things: uterus-owners, menstruaters, chest-feeders, birthing persons- but the term ‘inseminated person’ is my favorite.”

Morrisey responded by turning to the assembled legislators and jokingly saying, “You won’t send me a law with insemination person written on it. Not in West Virginia.”