Some states are trying to make sex binary. Transgender people see their existence denied

By ANDREW DeMILLO and JOHN HANNA
Associated Press

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Efforts in Republican-led states to write definitions of male and female into law are leading to outcry that the measures deny transgender people legal recognition. At least 13 states have proposed bills this year that seek to narrowly define sex or gender as binary. The bills are part of a pushback from conservatives who say the state has a legitimate interest in the issue. But advocacy groups say the proposals are effectively erasing transgender people’s rights and creating uncertainty for the larger population of intersex people. Before this year, there were four states with narrow definitions of the terms in their laws.