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November 18, 2025
North Carolina continues the trend of states that are defining sex for purposes of state law. See our article here, addressing laws in Iowa, West Virginia, and Wyoming; see our article here, addressing similar legislation in Texas; and see our article here, addressing Ohio’s sex recognition policy.
North Carolina expressly based its legislation on Executive Order 14168, titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which President Donald J. Trump issued in January 2025, stating that the United States recognizes only two sexes–male and female–as immutable and grounded in biological reality.
North Carolina’s General Assembly found that the state must provide clarity, certainty, and uniformity to its laws by requiring that they reflect and apply biologically grounded definitions of sex.
Effective January 1, 2026, the following definitions will apply to all administrative rules, regulations, or public policies adopted by the State of North Carolina or its political subdivisions, unless otherwise specified:
(1) Biological sex – The biological indication of male and female in the context of reproductive potential or capacity, such as sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individual’s psychological, chosen, or subjective experience of gender.
(2) Boy – A minor human male.
(3) Father – A male parent.
(4) Female – A term that when used to refer to a natural person, means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing ova (eggs).
(5) Gender identity – A term that means an individual’s self-declared identity that may not align with biological sex and, being a subjective internal sense, shall not be treated as legally or biologically equivalent to sex.
(6) Girl – A minor human female.
(7) Male – A term that when used to refer to a natural person, means a person belonging, at conception, to the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm.
(8) Man – An adult human male.
(9) Mother – A female parent.
(10) Woman – An adult human female.
See § 12-3.3 of North Carolina’s General Statutes.
Employers in North Carolina and elsewhere: Continue to monitor the trend of state legislatures defining male and female, as well as the legal challenges stemming from trends. Work with legal counsel to ensure that your employment policies and practices properly reflect your state’s anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, and similar obligations, but recognize that federal law interprets Title VII as protecting sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. See Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2000).
The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar [of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
