The West Virginia legislature is hard at work, and the newest bill is impressively titled “The West Virginia Women’s Bill of Rights” or “The West Virginia Act to Define Sex-Based Terms Used in State Law, Help Protect Single Sex Spaces, and Ensure the Accuracy of Public Data Collection”.  Already you know it’s some bullshit, right? And yes, that’s the real title.

The weirdest thing about this bill is that it codifies exactly zero rights for women in West Virginia. It doesn’t protect reproductive rights—the effective ban on abortion is still in place. It doesn’t codify equal pay for women—a proposed amendment to do that was deemed not germane. Yes, an amendment to guarantee equal pay for women in the West Virginia Women’s Bill of Rights is not germane. OK. So what is going on with this bill?

Well, there’s stuff like this:

(a) As used in West Virginia statutes, administrative rules, regulations, and/or official public policies:

(1) A “woman” is an adult human of the female sex, and a “man” is an adult human of the male sex;

(2) A “girl” is a human female who has not yet reached adulthood, and a “boy” is a human male who has not yet reached adulthood;

(3) A “mother” is a female parent of a child or children as defined in West Virginia law; a “father” is a male parent of a child or children as defined in West Virginia law;

(4) A “female”, when used in reference to a natural person, is an individual who has, had, will have, or would have (but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident) the reproductive system that at some point produces ova;

(5) A “male”, when used in reference to a natural person, means an individual who has, had, will have, or would have (but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident) the reproductive system that at some point produces sperm for fertilization of female ova;

And then there’s the actual purpose of the bill: defining what men and women are under the law:

(7) A person’s “sex” is his or her biological sex (either male or female) at birth.

(A) There are only two sexes, and every individual is either male or female;

(B) “Sex” is objective and fixed; and

(C) “Sex” does not include “gender identity” or any other terms intended to convey a person’s subjective sense of self; “gender identity” and other subjective terms may not be used as synonyms or substitutes for “sex.”

 (b) Individuals with “differences in sex development” (also known as “DSD” or “intersex conditions”) are not a third sex. Individuals with a congenital and medically verifiable DSD diagnosis must be accommodated consistent with state and federal law.

And then the acknowledgement that the bill is designed to erase trans people from public life:

Wherever used in West Virginia law, the word “gender” standing alone (as opposed to the phrase “gender identity”) is hereby deleted and replaced with the word “sex”, as defined herein.

And here’s the kicker—the bill’s definition of “equal”:

(6) “Equal” does not mean “same” or “identical” with respect to equality of the sexes;

Thus “equal” in WV law now actually means “not equal”. Holy 1984, Batman!

So it’s not an equal rights bill, which actually makes it all make sense because the Republicans in WV have lost their minds and are among some of the most extremist politicians in the country. Oh and that crybaby Riley Gaines showed up because while she can’t win races she’s excellent at hating trans people. Hey, you gotta know your strengths.

The bill was written by an outside group (because Republicans can’t write legislation) called Independent Women’s Voice, which is funded by, drum roll please, the Koch brothers. It follows the same fake grassroots organizing playbook used by duped parents in Virginia to elect Governor Fleece Vest, but in the end it’s all the same right wing grifters getting paid by the same extremist million-and billionaires

The WV state motto is “Mountaineers Are Always Free”, but as you can see, some Mountaineers are more free than others. I’ll use one the four official state songs to close this out.