Former NCAA swimmer testifies in favor of Ohio’s trans athlete, healthcare ban

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines spoke at the Ohio Statehouse on Tuesday in favor of a bill banning transgender minors from receiving certain healthcare and trans girls from taking part in female athletics.

House Bill 68 — the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act” — would bar healthcare professionals from providing treatment known as gender-affirming care to trans children in the state. Lawmakers amended the legislation to include House Bill 6, named the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” to prohibit trans girls from taking part in female athletics and override the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s trans student-athlete policy.

Nineteen supporters submitted testimony for the bill’s second hearing on Tuesday in the Senate Government Oversight Committee including Gaines, who has campaigned against the participation of trans athletes in women’s sports.

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Gaines testified she competed against Lia Thomas, a trans swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania, in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA swimming championships. When the two tied for fifth place, Gaines claimed NCAA officials opted to award the trophy to Thomas.

“The female athletes who objected to Thomas’ participation in women’s swimming were told to remain silent,” said Gaines. “Lia Thomas was not a one-off. Across the country and across various sports, female athletes are losing not only titles and awards to males but also roster spots and opportunities to compete.”

If passed, H.B. 68 would allow an athlete to sue for relief or damages if they are “deprived” of an athletic opportunity by a trans girl, and prohibit a government or athletic association from taking action against schools that enforce the ban.

Gaines also challenged the OSHAA’s claim that six trans high school students took part in athletics during the 2022-23 school year. The OSHAA asserts that 19 trans girls — 10 in middle school and nine in high school — have participated in girls’ sports since its policy was implemented eight years ago.

“It’s underreported, the number is certainly more than six,” said Gaines. “I’ve had more people in the state of Ohio reach out to me specifically who say they’re scared to speak out about this, because they don’t want to be reprimanded.”

Cynthia Millen, of Toledo, testified on Tuesday she resigned in protest from a more than 30-year career as a swim official after Thomas competed in a University of Akron meet in 2021. Millen said Thomas was only allowed to compete for the women’s team because she suppressed her testosterone level.

“Bodies compete against bodies; ‘gender identities’ do not compete and have no logical place in the determination of sports competition or team makeup,” said Millen. “No amount of surgery, or drug toxicity, even to the point of permanent infertility, can ever make it fair for a male to compete against a female.”

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Beyond athletics, H.B. 68 would also discipline medical professionals who provide gender transition procedures, like hormone replacement therapy and reconstructive surgery, to a minor. Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), the bill’s primary sponsor, argues Ohioans under the age of 18 are “incapable of providing the informed consent necessary to make those very risky and life-changing decisions.”

Elizabeth McIntosh, a family medicine physician from Johnstown, echoed Click and said neuroscience suggests the teenage brain is not mature enough to make such decisions. McIntosh noted several lawsuits, including by Chloe Cloe, an 18-year-old from California who is suing Kaiser Permanente for a gender-affirming surgery that was performed when she was 13.

“If reaching maturity is essential for informed, responsible consent to sexual activity, it is essential for informed, responsible consent to procedures that affect sexuality and sexual organs,” said McIntosh.

Jeannette Cooper, a representative from Partners for Ethical Care, testified she runs an online group of parents who do not affirm their children’s identity. She said it is “impossible to be born in the wrong body” and that administering wrong-sex hormones and removing healthy body parts should never be an option.

“I am not aware of any children of parents in our group who have committed suicide because they were not affirmed,” said Cooper. “On the contrary, we observe hundreds of children who recover from gender dysphoria and thrive once they don’t need the crutch of a transgender identity.”

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Still, the consensus among medical providers — including Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the American Academy of Pediatrics — is that gender-affirming care is an evidence-based practice with a proven track record of improving health outcomes for trans and nonbinary youth. The Ohio Children’s Hospital Association called the bill a “misguided effort” that could exacerbate harm to LGBTQ+ youth by denying healthcare to a population that’s already more susceptible to mental health disorders.

Siobhan Boyd-Nelson, deputy director of Equality Ohio, agrees and said the legislation would add to the “horrible toll” inflicted on Ohio’s LGBTQ+ youth population. Youth who identify as LGBTQ+ are more than four times as likely as their peers to attempt suicide, with more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ youth seriously considering suicide each year in the U.S., according to The Trevor Project,

“I want the ability, as a parent, to have access to any care that my young person would need, and that should be a decision between myself and my child’s doctors, the Statehouse has no place in that,” said Boyd-Nelson.

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