RALEIGH, NC – In a decisive move, the North Carolina legislature has successfully overridden Democratic Governor Josh Stein’s veto and enacted House Bill (HB 805) into law. Independent Women’s Voice celebrates this historic victory as a bold affirmation of biological truth and a crucial step to protecting the rights of North Carolina’s over five million women and girls. HB 805 formally defines the terms “female” and “male” in state law, reinforcing sex-based protections, and ensuring legislative clarity. 

Although Governor Stein followed a trend among Democratic governors in vetoing sex-definition legislation, the General Assembly’s send a clear message and echoes the nationwide and overwhelmingly bipartisan sentiment: sex-based protections are not up for debate and women’s rights to privacy, safety, and equal opportunities deserve legal recognition. 

In anticipation of this veto override vote, Independent Women organized a bipartisan coalition letter urging the North Carolina legislature to override Governor Stein’s veto of HB 805. The coalition, representing a spectrum of voices from all political persuasions, included Independent Women sports ambassadors, detransitioners, parental advocates, Women’s Bill of Rights Declaration signers, and North Carolina state-based policy groups—united by one principle: sex matters in law and policy. 

About the adoption of this law in North Carolina, Beth Parlato, Independent Women’s Law Center senior legal advisor, said: “Today, the legislature stood firm in the face of Governor Stein’s veto and upheld a vital bill that defines ‘male’ and ‘female’ based on biology, not ideology. With this override, North Carolina has taken a principled stand for women’s privacy, fairness, and safety in single‑sex spaces. This law protects women and girls from ideological overreach and affirms that truth and biological reality matter in our statutes. I congratulate the legislators who had the courage to defend women’s rights and send a clear message that North Carolina values its women and girls.”

Few voices have been more impactful than that of Payton McNabb, a former three-sport high school athlete, is the most prominent women’s rights advocate in North Carolina. McNabbwas severely injured by a male athlete on an opposing women’s high school volleyball team in 2022. Since then, she has turned pain into purpose and become a national voice for fairness in women’s sports and a leading advocate for HB 805—efforting widespread support for the legislation.

McNabb, now a sports ambassador for Independent Women, said: “Today’s override is a vindication of the abuse I endured in North Carolina in the name of radical gender ideology. I was proud when the General Assembly overrode Governor Cooper’s veto in 2023 to protect women’s sports, and today I am proud my state finished this critical work to define ‘woman’ ensuring our rights aren’t erased. Common sense prevails once again as North Carolina becomes the 18th state to define sex-based words. Women across our state will be safeguarded because of it.”

Ahead of the veto vote, McNabb penned an op-ed in the Carolina Journal highlighting the importance of HB 805 to protect women’s privacy, safety, and equal opportunities. 

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 in North Carolina. Today’s override continues the legislature’s leadership in defending single-sex spaces and sex-based rights.

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.

Megan Burke, 2x NCAA Champion and American Record-Holder from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill and Independent Women’s Network chapter leader, wrote in the Carolina Journal: “Governor Stein has chosen to let down the women and voters of North Carolina, but the legislature can still stand up—for safety, for fairness, and for the biological reality that makes protecting women’s rights possible in the first place.”

Prisha Mosley, Independent Women ambassador and detransitioner, who faced chemical and surgical mutilation in the state of North Carolina wrote an op-ed for the Center Square about how HB 805 would protect North Carolina’s vulnerable youth by preventing state funds from going toward so-called “gender-affirming” procedures on children: “For the sake of the millions of children who live in North Carolina, I hope the Legislature overrides Gov. Stein’s veto. My story should never have happened. And if this bill passes, North Carolinians are a step closer to ensuring it never happens again.”

Parlato, McNabb, Burke, and Mosley were among those who signed the bipartisan coalition letter to the North Carolina General Assembly ahead of today’s vote.

North Carolina now joins 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. Collectively—adding North Carolina’s over five million women and girls—these laws now positively affect 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.