Ohio State Board of Education votes against Biden-supported LGBTQ protections in Title IX

Anna Staver, The Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read
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Board members John Hagan listens to public testimony in October on a resolution that opposes proposed changes to Title IX, the federal law that prohibited discrimination in schools on the basis of sex, during a board meeting at the Ohio Department of Education.
Board members John Hagan listens to public testimony in October on a resolution that opposes proposed changes to Title IX, the federal law that prohibited discrimination in schools on the basis of sex, during a board meeting at the Ohio Department of Education.

After months of debate and hundreds of personal testimonies, Ohio's State Board of Education voted 10 to 7 Tuesday to push back against the Biden Administration's plan to add LGBTQ protections into Title IX.

But a lot of the resolution's original−and arguably most controversial−language was stripped out.

A majority of board members removed sentences like "denying the reality of biological sex destroys foundational truths upon which education rests" and "sex is not arbitrarily assigned at birth."

What remained were statements that President Joe Biden's plan to add gender identity and sexual orientation to the federal law that protects girls from discrimination in schools and sports "illegally bypass the legislative process and undermine the very protections for female students that Title IX sought to provide."

"The proposed regulations pertaining to athletics would require sports teams to be based on gender identity rather than biological sex, causing biological women and girls to compete on an unfair basis against biological males," according to the final resolution.

A look back: Ohio Board of Education pushes vote against adding LGBTQ protections to Title IX to December

What would the resolution do?

The only action item left in the resolution was a requirement for the state superintendent to mail "every Ohio public school district" and "each district (school) board member" a copy of what the board passed within 21 calendar days. A cover letter would also be mailed and include the following:

  • The board opposes Biden's proposed regulatory changes

  • The proposed changes are in the middle of a federal lawsuit and therefore unenforceable.

  • Ohio's Attorney General has joined that case.

  • The board also disagrees with the Department of Agriculture's proposed rule change that could withhold school lunch funds from schools that violate these new Title IX rules.

  • The letter is "intended to inform schools and districts, not to compel them to take a particular course of action."

Board members Melissa Bedell and Christina Collins tried to remove the letter, but that motion failed on a 9-9 vote.

"Any other resolution that we’ve ever passed," Collins said. "We haven’t sent letters to districts before."

But she voted against the resolution for "much" bigger reasons.

"I will never be able to support anything that singles out any group of students in the way that resolution does...," Collins said. "We could have met the intended purpose which was, I think, that the federal government should not usurp the rights of states ... I think we could have met that intent without having the incendiary language to single out LGBTQ kids."

Board Member Brandon Shea, who wrote the original resolution, disagreed.

"They go hand in hand for me," Shea said during the meeting.

Stating a clear definition of biological sex, in Shea's opinion, was "essential and foundational to the resolution." But Collins interpreted that as an indication "that there was some intentionality about singling (LGBTQ children) out."

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What happens now?

The final resolution still "declares its emphatic support" for the original version of Title IX. The landmark law passed in 1972 that made it illegal to discriminate against girls or girls' sports teams in public education.

But what happens next will depend on both Ohio's state lawmakers and the federal government.

Republicans in the state Senate are expected to pass a bill banning transgender girls from playing on female sports teams this week, and it could be on Gov. Mike DeWine's desk before Christmas.

The federal changes will take a lot longer, years potentially given the lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and 21 state attorneys general.

More:Ohio Attorney General sues to stop USDA rule banning gender identity discrimination

"This will get resolved ultimately in the courts," Board Member Mike Toal said.

Still, he thought it was important to express opposition to executive branch changes to laws that should be done by Congress. The Biden Administration "simply usurped the responsibility of the legislative body," he said.

Several board members, including Collins and Michelle Newman, still voted no, saying the language went beyond affirming the separation of powers and parental rights in K-12 education.

"It’s a political statement," Newman said. "It’s a legal statement we are not equipped to make."

Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio school board votes against backing LGBTQ protections in Title IX