RALEIGH, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Beginning this week, North Carolina law will formally define sex as either male or female, a change that takes effect Thursday with the start of the new year.
The provision is part of House Bill 805, legislation that is already in effect but includes a section that becomes enforceable in January. Under the law, sex is defined strictly by biological characteristics, not gender identity. The bill states that gender identity “shall not be treated as legally or biologically equivalent to sex.”
House Bill 805 sparked intense debate in the General Assembly after lawmakers added the sex-definition language to the measure. The bill was originally introduced to address online sexual exploitation and protect women and minors, a goal that initially received bipartisan support.
Democrats later withdrew their backing after Republicans amended the bill to include definitions related to sex and gender. Democratic lawmakers urged GOP leaders to remove the language and consider it under separate legislation.
“We would have loved to salvage the original bill and we tried almost a dozen times to do that,” Democratic Sen. Sophia Chitlik said during floor debate in July. “We tried in committee, we tried multiple times on the floor, we tried with amendments, we tried with our protest votes — we gave Republicans every single opportunity to do the right thing.”
Governor Josh Stein vetoed the bill in July, calling it divisive and accusing lawmakers of fueling culture wars. In a recent interview, Stein said the legislature devoted too much time to polarizing issues rather than focusing on bipartisan solutions.
“They don’t advance the state,” Stein said. “They just serve to put us in separate corners. We need to come together because there are real problems we need to address on a bipartisan basis.”
Republican leaders quickly moved to override the veto. House Speaker Destin Hall criticized the governor’s decision, saying Stein sided with “radical activists over the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians who believe in parental rights, biological reality, and protecting women and children.”
Republicans in both the House and Senate successfully overrode the veto, allowing the bill to become law.
In addition to defining sex, House Bill 805 also defines “mother” and “father” as female and male parents. The law further prohibits the use of state funds for gender transition surgeries or related medications.
The new definitions take effect Thursday.
