Oklahoma signs 'Women's Bill of Rights' into law to codify biological differences
Gov. Kevin Stitt, R.-Okla., and former NCAA athlete Riley Gaines join 'The Faulkner Focus' to discuss the passage of Oklahoma's 'Women's Bill of Rights.'
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, R., signed the "Women's Bill of Rights" into law Tuesday in a move blasted by some critics as "sexist" and "transphobic."
Joining "The Faulkner Focus" shortly after, Stitt sat beside former NCAA athlete Riley Gaines to discuss how the executive order will solidify distinctions between men and women based on sex and identify spaces in which they are to be kept separate, including locker rooms, restrooms, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters and prisons, among others.
"It's even weird to say that we have to do this in today's age," Stitt said, "… but to us, it's just common sense that we have to do this to define what a woman is and protect women. 50 years ago, Title XI was signed. Now it feels like the left is trying to erode that."
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Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt delivers his State of the State address on Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
The law is said to bring "clarity, certainty, and uniformity" to state laws, according to its text, and prevent situations like the ones Gaines and other female swimmers underwent when they were forced to undress in a locker room in the presence of transgender athlete Lia Thomas.
Former University of Pennsylvania swimmer Paula Scanlan told Congress recently that the incident "adversely impacted" women suffering from sexual trauma, including herself.
"We're taking a stand against this out of control gender ideology that is eroding the very foundation of our society," Stitt said when signing the bill.
State Democrats have pushed back against the law, calling the measure divisive and "homegrown bigotry."
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"I have three daughters," Stitt told Faulkner. "My wife and I've been married for 25 years. I did this for them. I did it for Riley Gaines. I did it for all the young girls in the state of Oklahoma. It's just absolutely wrong for them to be forced to change and undress in what should be a safe locker room as they're competing."
Riley Gaines, now a spokeswoman for the Independent Women’s Forum, famously tied Lia Thomas for fifth place in the 200 Freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)
"Forget the fact that they're having to compete against a biological male, but then to change in the locker room. I mean, this is just craziness, and it's not going to happen in Oklahoma."
According to Gaines, she and other female swimmers faced "emotional blackmail" in response to their complaints about Thomas.
"This is bigger than universities that we're seeing in academia. It's in corporate America, it's in the media, the amount of emotional blackmail they put us through to keep us silent. And it was effective," she said.
House GOP Members And Female Athletes Mark Passage Of The Protection Of Women And Girls In Sports Act in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla)
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"They told us we wouldn't get a job, we wouldn't get into grad school, we would lose our friends, we would lose our scholarship. They told us that we would be murderers if we spoke out because we would be complicit in a potential death. That's how they kept us silent. That's why it feels as if and it seems as if I've been one of the few voices fighting for this…"
Stitt said if state agencies fail to follow the executive order, violators will be "removed immediately."
"They're not going to work in my administration" he insisted.
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