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ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 408 By: Garvin, Hamilton,
Bergstrom, Rogers,
Seifried, Daniels, Jet t,
and Bullard of the Senate
and
Hasenbeck of the House
An Act relating to discrimination; creating the
Women’s Bill of Rights; providing shor t title;
stating purpose of act; clarifying applicati on and
interpretation of act; amending 25 O.S. 2021,
Sections 16, 1101, and 1201, which relate to
definitions and statutory construction; defining
terms; construing provisions; authorizing
distinctions for certain purposes; defining term;
requiring certain identification in collection of
data for certain purposes; providing for
codification; providing for noncodification; 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 follows:
A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Women’s
Bill of Rights”.
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 sexes and the manner
in which they are treated as such under the la ws of this state. All
laws where the application the reof is contingent upon the
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classification of a perso n as being female or male, woman or man,
girl or boy, are hereby superseded and interpreted to the extent
necessary by this act including but not limi ted 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 whose biological
reproductive system is developed to produce ova;
3. “Male” means a natural person whose biological repr oductive
system is developed 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 children as
defined in Section 7 of this title;
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 bodies 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.
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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, disability 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 statute 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 distinctions between sexes when such
distinctions are substantially related to a n important government
objective including but not limited to biology, privacy, safety, or
fairness in locations and circumstances such as prisons or other
detention facilities, domestic violence shelters, rape crisis
centers, athletics and locker rooms, and restrooms.
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:
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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 62 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 legal 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 numberin g, 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 statistics for the purpose of gathering accurate
public health, crime, economic or other d ata shall identify any
natural person who is part of the collected data as either male or
female as defined in Section 62 of Title 25 of the Oklahoma
Statutes.
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SECTION 6. This act shall become effective No vember 1, 2023.
Passed the Senate the 7th day of March, 2023.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the ____ day of __________,
2023.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives