WV Equality Report Card

This scorecard reflects how every member of the Legislature voted on bills that affect LGBTQ peoplefrom 2021 through the 2023 legislative sessions. Not sure which legislator represents you? Click here to use our tool to look them up.

If a legislator has all check marks, that means Fairness supports how they voted on each issue. If a legislator has all Xs, that means Fairness opposed how they voted on each issue. Have any questions or corrections for this scorecard? Email jack@fairnesswv.org

Vote supported by Fairness WV	Vote opposed by Fairness WV	Absent / Didn't Vote	Unable to vote

Senate Report Card

House of Delegates Report Card

What do these votes mean?

If a legislators has all check marks, that means Fairness supports how they voted on each issue. If a legislator has all Xs, that means Fairness opposed how they voted on each issue. Have any questions about this report card? Email jack@fairnesswv.org

❌ RFRA — “License to Discriminate”

This bill, House Bill 3042, is the so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It’s really nothing more than a License to Discriminate bill. This law could allow anyone to be exempt from following a law or a governmental policy if they believe that law or policy burdens their religious beliefs. That means that any individual religious belief has the potential to determine which state and local laws a person or corporation must follow.

Fairness WV opposed this bill. A checkmark means the legislator also opposed these bills, whereas an X means the legislator supported the bill.

✅ RFRA Amendment

RFRA supporters claimed the law was not designed to give people a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people. To put that to the test, Del. Mike Pushkin proposed an amendment that would have said this law could not be used to overturn or sidestep nondiscrimination protections. This amendment failed.

Fairness WV supported this amendment. A checkmark means the legislator also supported the amendment, whereas an X means the legislator opposed it.

❌ Restricting care for trans youth

This law, House Bill 2007, restricts transgender-related healthcare in West Virginia for people under the age of 18. This means that starting in 2024, care such as gender-affirming hormone therapy and puberty blockers will be restricted in West Virginia for most trans people until they turn 18. This restriction excludes youth who are diagnosed with “severe gender dysphoria” by at least two health care providers.

Fairness WV opposed this bill. A checkmark means the legislator also opposed these bills, whereas an X means the legislator supported the bill.

✅ Takubo Amendment

Originally, House Bill 2007 completely banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth in West Virginia. Sen. Tom Takubo successfully proposed an amendment to allow patients with “severe gender dysphoria” to remain in care, as long as they meet a series of requirements.

Fairness WV supported this amendment. A checkmark means the legislator also supported the amendment, whereas an X means the legislator opposed it.

❌ Classroom Gag Order

We narrowly defeated this bill in the final minutes of the 2022 legislative session. The goal of this bill was to discourage educators and college professors from having important conversations about our country’s history of discrimination. Multiple versions of the Classroom Gag Order were introduced and voted on, including House Bill 4011 and Senate Bill 498.

 Fairness WV opposed all of these bills. A checkmark means the legislator also opposed these bills, whereas an X means the legislator supported one or more versions of the bills.

❌ Pro-Conversion Therapy Bill

This bill would have overturned the local bans on conversion therapy that four communities have already adopted. Conversion therapy has been discredited by the medical community for years, and it is a form of child abuse. Fortunately, this bill was defeated in the final days of the legislative session.

Fairness WV opposed this bill, Senate Bill 71, after Senators approved it and sent it to the House. Senators amended the bill to include an easily-overlooked provision that would have promoted conversion therapy. A checkmark means the legislator opposed this bill, whereas an X means the legislator supported it.

❌ Abolishing Local Liberty

This bill would have allowed a super minority of voters to potentially repeal any city ordinance, including the local nondiscrimination protections that 16 communities have already adopted. It would have had a chilling effect on future cities from even considering these protections out of fear of facing an expensive, divisive referendum.

Fairness WV opposed this bill, House Bill 2232. A checkmark means the legislator also opposed this bill, whereas an X means the legislator voted in favor of it. HB 2232 was among several bills to abolish local liberty, but no other version was voted on by lawmakers.

❌ Trans Athlete Ban

This bill was passed and signed into law by Governor Jim Justice. It bans transgender girls in middle school, high school and college from participating in school sports that match their gender identity.

Fairness WV opposed bill, House Bill 3293. A checkmark means the legislator also opposed this bill, whereas an X means the legislator supported it. NOTE: This vote is the only vote from the 2021 legislative session included in the report card — all other votes occurred in 2022.

OTHER BILLS

In addition to the issues listed above, these other bills would have affected LGBTQ people but were never brought up for a vote:

❌ Ban on Gender Affirming Care for Trans Youth — Bills that would severely limit or eliminate the ability of doctors to provide medically-necessary health care to transgender people under the age of 18.

❌ No Rainbows in School — Bills that would have prevented teachers in West Virginia schools from hanging any posters or signs that include a rainbow or other messages of support for LGBTQ youth. This is similar, though not quite as extreme, as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill seen in Florida.

❌ Weakening or Eliminating the WV Human Rights Commission — A group of various bills that sought to totally eliminate the state’s Human Rights Commission, decrease its funding, or to significantly hinder the commission’s work.

❌ HIV Criminalization — A bill to criminalize HIV that makes it a felony to knowingly expose someone to the virus.

✅ Fairness Act — A bipartisan bill to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination by updating the state’s existing human rights laws. The bill would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protect classes, ensuring that no one faces discrimination in employment, housing or public spaces.

✅ Youth Mental Health Protection Act — A bill to ban licensed medical providers from practicing the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy.

✅ Angel’s Law — This bill, named for a recent victim of a homophobic physical attack, would add LGBTQ people to the state’s hate crimes law. Angel’s Law would also stress restorative justice, which allows a judge to sentence a perpetrator to work within the community they have wronged in lieu of additional jail time.

✅ Correct IDs For All — Several lawmakers sponsored bills to make it easier for transgender people to correct the gender listed on their birth certificates, and to allow for new gender marker on IDs other than M or F.

✅ Gender Neutral Marriage Language — Several lawmakers sponsored this bill to remove gendered language from state laws surrounding marriage licenses.

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Have a question, comment, or concern about this report card? Contact Communications Director Jack Jarvis by email.

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