“Absurd and unnecessary,” Transgender Ohioans, allies react to House passage of bathroom ban bill

Close-up of a transgender pride flag flapping on a sunny day filling the frame

Transgender Ohioans and allies are outraged the Ohio House passed a bathroom ban bill at the 11th hour of a marathon session Wednesday night before going on summer break.

The bill would require Ohio K-12 schools and universities to mandate that students only be able to use the bathroom or locker room that matches their gender assigned at birth.

“Hate mongers in Columbus want to see trans and gender nonconforming Ohioans stripped of their right to exist in public spaces. They can make our lives harder, but they can’t make us not a part of this state,” TransOhio Executive Director Dara Adkison said in a statement. 

Sam Shim, the parent of two transgender high school students, said his biggest concern with the bathroom ban bill is how lawmakers don’t seem to be focused on students.

“It seems like it’s a political stunt designed to help with their messaging when they go back out on the campaign trail,” Shim said. “My kids should be able to go to the bathroom without worrying about being accosted.”

Honesty for Ohio Education said this bill would harm transgender students and families. 

“We are deeply disturbed that extremists in the state legislature prioritized the passing of this transphobic and hateful legislation over anything that would help Ohioans,” Christina Collins, Executive Director at Honesty For Ohio Education, said in a statement.

Trans Allies of Ohio echoed comments House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said Wednesday night on the House floor. 

“We have school districts that can’t afford busses or find teachers, colleges that are losing students and closing their doors, and over 505,000 Ohio children going hungry every day,” Trans Allies of Ohio said in a statement. “But attacking less than 1% of the population has become a priority.”

“HB 183 is absurd and unnecessary, and the passage of this bill through the Ohio House in the late hours of the night is nothing short of targeting and bullying behavior. Our legislators make it hard to feel proud of being an Ohioan,” Jennifer Kuhn, spokesperson for Kaleidoscope Youth Center, said in an email.

Equality Ohio said the bill undermines the dignity and rights of transgender and gender diverse Ohioans. 

“Across races, backgrounds, and genders, we all deserve the dignity of safely existing in public life and using the most basic of public accommodations,” Morgan Zickes, Equality Ohio’s public policy manager, said in a statement. “We saw extremists in the General Assembly resort to eleventh-hour back door legislative efforts to ensure that transgender and gender expansive Ohioans are stripped of this fundamental decency.”

Ten states have laws that limit bathroom access that correspond with gender identity in K-12 schools, according to the UCLA Williams Institute 2024 report on the impact of anti-transgender legislation on youth. An estimated 34,800 transgender students ages 13-17 live in those states. 

However, those laws have been challenged in Florida, Oklahoma, Idaho and Tennessee. 

How did the bill pass?

The bathroom ban bill (House Bill 183) was favorably voted out of the House Higher Education Committee in April, but wasn’t on the agenda for Wednesday’s House session — the last one before lawmakers went on summer break.

House Republicans used Senate Bill 104, which revises the College Credit Plus Program, as the vehicle to pass the transgender bathroom ban.  

Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, one of the sponsors of H.B. 183, introduced the amendment that ended up weaving his bill into S.B. 104. Because of the changes, the bill now goes back to the Senate to concur. 

TransOhio called adding H.B. 183 to S.B. 104 an “underhanded move” that  “undermines the legislative process.” 

Since the lawmakers are on summer break, the bill likely won’t go before the Senate until the fall.  

“When the Senate returns from summer recess we urge everyone to pressure the Senate to not concur, and for the Governor to veto,” Adkison said in a statement. “HB 183 is not law today, nor should it ever become so.”

Transgender bills in Ohio

There are a handful of transgender bills at various spots on the way to becoming a law. 

Ohio’s gender-affirming care ban for trans youth (House Bill 68) is the closest to becoming law, but is currently tied up in court. A Franklin County judge placed a temporary restraining order on the bill that will be in effect until the conclusion of a July hearing. 

House Bill 8 has also seen movement in the General Assembly lately and it would force educators to out a student’s sexuality to their parents, require public schools to inform parents about sexuality content materials ahead of time and give them the option to request alternative instructions. 

H.B. 8 passed the House last year and just had a fourth hearing in the Senate Education Committee. 

Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.

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