West Virginia House passes bill restricting gender identity education in schools

CHARLESTON, W.Va (WCHS) — The West Virginia House of Delegates passed dozens of bills on Friday, were pushed to committee or rejected as the clock runs out for the 2025 legislative session.

Amongst those that made the cut, delegates did target some of the issues that have made headlines and been major topics both within the state and around the country. Including passing Senate Bill 154 which prohibits public schools from giving instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity.

"It prohibits a public school and county board employees assigned to a school from knowingly giving false or misleading information to the parent custodian or guardian of a student regarding the student's gender identity or intention to transition to a gender that is different than the student's biological sex,” Del. Elias Coop-Gonzalez said.

21 states have taken legislative action to implement restrictions around teaching sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

"The bill is about teachers not teaching sexual orientation or gender identity, which they already don't do. There's a part added about students with their preferred pronouns and their gender identity. I just wanted that struck from the language because it seems to set up a situation where kids who trust their teachers will no longer be able to trust their teachers,” Del. Kayla Young said.

Del. Young said this is an example of legislation that is creating problems instead of fixing them.

"I don't think this is a problem. It’s a solution in search of a problem and it's just another red meat bill we keep seeing in the legislature when we could be focused on things that actually help people,” she said.

Over the session, lawmakers from both chambers were criticized for looking at bills with little to no significance. Leaving those larger pieces of legislation to be voted on at the last minute or to die at the end of the session.

"It's a completely worthless bill that addresses no problems that we're having in the state. There’s absolutely no need for it and I think we should not base our bills based on whatever some right wing media outlet tells us we should be afraid of on any given day,” Del. Mike Pushkin said.

Saturday is the last day of the 2025 legislative session. The house will begin at 9 a.m. to make their final votes.