Lawmakers approve removing ‘gender’ from all Louisiana state laws 

Louisiana lawmakers have approved a bill that replaces all references to “gender” in state law to “sex.” 

House Bill 578 by Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, received final legislative approval Wednesday and now only needs a signature from Gov. Jeff Landry to become law. 

The bill also stipulates “gender identity and other subjective terms shall not be used as synonyms or substitutes for sex.” 

The bill was approved largely along party lines, though a handful of conservative Democrats also voted for it. 

“The bill is more about clarity, consistent, objective definitions,” Johnson said last month when his bill came up in the House. “It ensures our statutes are applied fairly and uniformly. It helps courts and agencies and the public understand exactly what the law means.” 

“It’s not targeting any single group, and it’s not creating new penalties or restrictions on the people,” added Johnson, who titled his bill the Restoring Biological Truth Act.

Opponents of the bill have raised concerns it will erase transgender people from state law and that it could create a conflict with federal guidance on Title IX, a federal civil rights law that ensures equal opportunity to educational opportunities regardless of sex. 

Interpretation of Title IX has varied over the years, but it has trended toward acknowledging discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression or refusing to conform with gender norms as a type of sex-based discrimination.

Johnson said the bill would put Louisiana law in line with an executive order President Donald Trump issued that shares the same name and also sought to remove references to gender across the federal government. 

Executive orders are not the same as laws that Congress approves, though the federal government enforces them with the same weight. A subsequent president can rescind an executive order from one of their predecessors.