The House this year passed several pieces of legislation regarding gender issues, each of which I was proud to support.
The first bill, Senate Bill 2, was signed by the Governor earlier this year. It ensures that only biological women compete on women’s sports teams. It’s just common sense that biological men shouldn’t compete in women’s sports, and I am committed to protecting the opportunity for all girls and women in Oklahoma to excel and succeed in their chosen sports without having to unfairly compete with biological men.
When we ignore simple scientific fact, our female athletes can get hurt, miss out on athletic opportunities and lose school or state records. This is unfair and I won’t allow this to happen in our state. If we do not take the steps to protect women’s sports now, we may eventually only have men’s sports and co-ed sports.
We also passed Senate Bill 615, which ensures that our children are safe in school bathrooms. Parents across the state were concerned about the privacy of their children as a result of reports that some school districts in the state were allowing biological males to use female facilities. After numerous discussions, it became clear that legislative action was needed to clarify state statute.
The bill requires restrooms and changing rooms in Oklahoma public schools to be designated exclusively based on biological sex. The legislation requires each school to provide a reasonable accommodation, such as a single-occupancy restroom or changing area, to anyone who does not wish to comply with the requirement. Any schools that do not follow this new state law can be subject to losing 5% of their state funding. The bill also protects the rights of concerned parents to take action if their child’s school is allowing biological males to enter female facilities.
The House also approved a bill to limit the biological sex designation on an Oklahoma birth certificate to only male or female. Senate Bill 1100 prohibits the designation of nonbinary as an option on birth certificates issued in the state.
This came to the forefront in Oklahoma last year when Gov. Kevin Stitt directed the State Department of Health to stop issuing birth certificates with nonbinary listed as the sex of the person. The agency had amended birth certificates without being authorized to do so under state law, and SB1100 prevents this from happening. Our official state documents must contain truth based in established medical fact.
I’m proud of the work that we were able to accomplish this year, as many of these policies were concerns that I had heard about directly from constituents. I encourage you to continue sharing your thoughts and reaching out with any questions. You may contact me at (405) 557-7375 or randy.randleman@okhouse.gov. Thank you for the honor of serving House District 15!
Rep. Randy Randleman, a Republican, serves District 15 in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, which covers Haskell County and portions of Muskogee, Sequoyah, LeFlore, Pittsburg and McIntosh counties.
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