United States: Montana law conditions sex in civil status to biological data

“Biological sex is immutable, you cannot change it”. So said Republican Senator Carl Glimm from Montana last February. This politician is the fervent defender of Bill 458 in Montana, text which aims to clearly define the terms "man" and "woman" according to biology. This law was signed on May 22 by Governor Greg Gianforte, bringing it into effect, reports The Epoch Times.

What exactly does it provide? Whether the sexes are determined by "the biological and genetic indication of male or female", i.e. "the sex chromosomes", "the gonads [sexual organ that produces gametes, editor's note]" and unambiguous “internal and external genitalia” present at birth. And this, “without taking into account the psychological, behavioral, social, chosen or subjective experience” of the person in terms of gender, specifies the law.

Concretely, a woman is a person who possesses the XX chromosomes and produces, or would produce “relatively large and relatively immobile eggs during its life cycle”, and whose reproductive and endocrine system is “focused on the production of these gametes ". A "man" is defined by the possession of "XY chromosomes" and the production of "sperm".

For Senator Carl Glimm, this law was "necessary" to distinguish between "sex" and "gender". Terms which, according to him, should not be interchangeable. “There are only two biological sexes”, he thus decided a few weeks before the signing of the law. Before clarifying: "You can claim to be able to change your sex or express your sex in different ways, but you can never change your biological status".

The senator was referring here to a legal battle that took place in 2021 in the state of Montana. The latter concerned a bill that would have prevented people who identify as transgender from changing the gender on their birth certificate without a court order certifying that they have undergone a surgical transition.

For the Democrats, however, the passage of this law was reckless. According to them, Montana is at risk of losing billions of dollars it receives from the federal government. The latter have indeed explained that this law would create conflicts with the program of the Biden administration which aims to extend federal protections to sexual identity, once again reports The Epoch Times.

"It seems like 20 years ago nobody needed a definition of sex because everyone understood what it meant," said Carl Glimm. "But now there's a split on 'Is sex a gender and can I change it?' But sex, you can't change it. Sex is just a fact,” he added, Reuters reported.

Montana thus becomes the fourth American state to pass a law defining sex as strictly “male” or “female” and immutable. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte also authorized a bill that same year banning gender-affirming treatments for transgender minors, sparking concern among American LGBT advocates. “We fear that these acts of LGBTQ erasure could be the next type of anti-LGBTQ legislation to sweep the country,” said the president of the Human Rights Campaign.