RALEIGH, NC –Today, Independent Women, the leading women’s organization dedicated to advancing policies that enhance opportunity and well-being, calls out North Carolina Governor Josh Stein for vetoing HB 805 following its passage in the legislature last week. Had Governor Stein signed it into law, the bill would have been a major win in the North Carolina legislative effort to codify the definitions of female and male terms in state law to prevent sex discrimination and protect legislative transparency.
Instead, Governor Stein continued the pattern of Democrat governors vetoing similar legislation. The legislature will now have to override his veto to ensure women’s safety, privacy, and fairness are safeguarded for generations to come.
Payton McNabb, Independent Women sports ambassador and former North Carolina high school athlete, said: “Governor Stein had a chance to affirm a basic truth: that sex is real and rooted in biology. Instead, he vetoed HB 805–a common-sense bill that simply defined male and female in law. This wasn’t a hard decision. It was a moral one. He failed it, and he failed every girl in North Carolina.”
McNabb has played an integral role in the fight for women’s sports in North Carolina following the devastating injury she suffered at the hands of a trans-identifying male on the opposing team during a volleyball match.
McNabb first spoke out about her life-altering injury caused by a male athlete in 2023 where she testified before North Carolina lawmakers in support of HB 574, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, alongside Riley Gaines. Since then, her testimony brought more national attention to the issue, and North Carolina’s Stand With Women legislation is the next critical next step to defend women’s single-sex spaces.
Independent Women Features, the grassroots storytelling and original journalism project of Independent Women, recently highlighted McNabb’s story in a documentary — “Kill Shot: How Payton McNabb Turned Tragedy Into Triumph.
If the legislature overrides Governor Stein’s veto, North Carolina would join Kansas, Tennessee, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Iowa, Indiana, West Virginia, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Georgia, and Texas in adopting laws inspired by Independent Women’s sex-definition model—positively affecting the lives of over 49 million women and girls.
For media inquiries or to book Payton McNabb please email [email protected].
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Independent Women fights for women by expanding support for policy solutions that aren’t just well-intended, but actually preserve and advance opportunity and well-being.
