Thursday, May 16, 2024

Mississippi Enacts Law Defining "Sex" In Biological Terms

On May 13, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed Senate Bill 2753, the Securing Areas for Females Effectively and Responsibly (SAFER) Act (full text). The law requires separate (or single sex or family) restrooms, changing facilities and educational housing space for males and females at public schools and colleges. It then goes on to define gender terms found in these as well as for other sections of Mississippi statutes as follows:

(1)  "Female" means an individual who naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces eggs.

(2)  "Male" means an individual who naturally has, had, will have, or would have, but for a developmental or genetic anomaly or historical accident, the reproductive system that at some point produces sperm.

(3)  "Sex," when used to classify a natural person, means the biological indication of male and female as observed or clinically verified at birth, without regard to a person's psychological, chosen, or subjective experience, feelings, actions, or sense of self.

(4)  The following additional provisions apply to the use of "sex" and related terms: (a) There are only two (2) sexes, and every individual is either male or female. (b)  "Sex" is objective and fixed. (c)  Persons with "DSD conditions" (sometimes referred to as "differences in sex development", "disorders of sex development", or "intersex conditions") are not members of a third sex.

Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the governor's action.