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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR ENGROSSED
SENATE BILL NO. 408 By: Garvin, Hamilton,
Bergstrom, Rogers,
Seifried, Daniels, Jet t,
and Bullard of the Senate
and
Hasenbeck and Williams of
the House
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
An Act relating to discrimination; enacting the
Women’s Bill of Rights; stating purpose of act;
clarifying applicati on and interpretation of act;
amending 25 O.S. 2021, Sections 16 , 1101, and 1201,
which relate to definitio ns and general provisions;
defining terms; construing provisions; authorizing
distinctions for certain purposes; defining term;
requiring certain identification in collection of
data for certain purposes; providing for
noncodification; providing for codifi cation; and
providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STAT E OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law not to be
codified in the Oklahoma Statutes reads as follow s:
A. This act shall be known a nd may be cited as the “Women’s
Bill of Rights”.
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B. The purpose of the Women’s Bill of Rights is to bring
clarity, certainty, and uniformi ty under the laws of this state with
respect to natural persons of both biological se xes and the manner
in which they are treated as such under the laws of this state. All
laws where the application the reof is contingent upon the
classification of a perso n as being female or male, woman or man,
girl or boy, are hereby superseded and inter preted to the extent
necessary by this act including but not limited to any educational
benefits, corrections housing, employment protections, and civil
rights laws codified in the statutes of this state.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Section 16, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 16. The word “person,” As used in the Oklahoma
Statutes:
1. “Father” means the male parent of a child or ch ildren as
defined in Section 7 of this title;
2. “Female” means a natural person who se biological
reproductive system is designed to produce ova;
3. “Male” means a natural person whose biological repr oductive
system is designed to fertilize the ova of a female;
4. “Man” or “boy” means a natural person who is male;
5. “Mother” means the female parent of a child or chi ldren as
defined in Section 7 of this title;
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6. “Natural person” means a person as defined in paragraph 7 of
this section, except for bo dies politic or corporate;
7. “Person”, except when used by way of contrast, includes not
only human beings, but bodie s politic or corporate;
8. “Sex” means a natural person ’s biological sex at birth; and
9. “Woman” or “girl” means a natural person who is female.
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Section 1101, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1101. A. This act provides for exclusive remedies
within the state of the p olicies for individuals alleging
discrimination in em ployment on the basis of race, color, national
origin, sex, religion, creed, age, disab ility or genetic
information.
B. This act shall be construed according to the fair import of
its terms to further t he general purposes stated in this section and
the special purposes of the particular provision involved.
C. Any policy, program, or statut e that prohibits sex
discrimination is to be construed to forbid unfair treatment of
females or males in relation to similarly situated members of the
opposite sex. The state or its political subdivisions shall not be
prohibited from establishing distinct ions between sexes when such
distinctions are substantially related to a n important government
objective including but not limited to biology, privacy, safety, or
fairness.
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SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 25 O.S. 2021, Section 1201, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1201. In Section 1101 et seq. of this title, unless the
context otherwise requires:
1. “Discriminatory practice” means a practice designated as
discriminatory under the terms of this act;
2. “Equal”, with reference to sex as defined in Section 16 of
this title, shall not be construed to mean same or identical, and to
differentiate between the sexes shall not necessarily be construed
to be treating the sexes unequally;
3. “National origin” includes the national orig in of an
ancestor; and
3. 4. “Person” includes an individual, association,
corporation, joint apprenticeship committee, joint -stock company,
labor union, legal representative, mutual company, partnership,
receiver, trust, trustee, trustee in bankruptcy, u nincorporated
organization, any other l egal or commercial entity, the state, or
any governmental entity or agency.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1202 of Title 25, unless there
is created a duplication in number ing, reads as follows:
The state, any political subdivision , or any state agency or
department including, but not limited to, public school districts
that collects vital sta tistics for the purpose of gathering accurate
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public health, crime, economic or oth er data shall include, but not
be limited to, the identification of any natural person w ho is part
of the collected data as either male or female as defined in Section
16 of Title 25 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT MODERNIZATION AND
TECHNOLOGY, dated 04/12/2023 - DO PASS, As Amended and Coauthored.