Transgender athlete, drag queen bans: These Ohio bills targeted LGBTQ+ rights in 2023
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Watch a previous NBC4 report on anti-LGBTQ+ bills at the Statehouse in the video player above.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Anti-LGBTQ+ bills advanced through the Ohio Statehouse in 2023, prohibiting transgender girls from participating in female athletics, restricting drag queen performances and banning gender-affirming care.
Ohio legislators progressed four anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, among more than 725 proposed laws moving through statehouses across the nation, according to a report from the Movement Advancement Project (MAP). The legislation continues an unprecedented wave of bills targeting LGBTQ+ people after 268 bills were introduced in 2021 and 315 in 2022.
“The past three years have brought a dramatic — and still ongoing — escalation of attacks on LGBTQ people across virtually every aspect of [their] lives,” MAP’s report states.
Here’s how each Ohio bill could impact the LGBTQ+ community.
Transgender athlete, healthcare ban
Passed the Ohio Statehouse in December, on DeWine’s desk for signature or veto.
House Bill 68 — the “Save Adolescents from Experimentation” and the “Save Women’s Sports” acts — will bar medical professionals from providing treatment known as gender-affirming care, like puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy, to trans children in the state. Those in favor of the bill argue Ohioans younger than 18 are incapable of providing the informed consent necessary to make those decisions.
“Anytime you can give parents more information and more control with what their children are doing, it’s very important,” said Speaker of the Ohio House Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill).
Nick Lashutka, Ohio Children’s Hospital Association president, testified the state’s children’s hospitals “do not perform any surgeries on minors for the condition of gender dysphoria.” Still, the measure bans physicians from performing reconstructive surgery on a minor. H.B. 68 includes a grandfather clause that permits a physician “under specified circumstances” to continue prescribing puberty-blocking drugs to a minor after the bill’s effective date.
Private school vouchers, school board powers: Here’s how K-12 education changed in Ohio in 2023
“While the majority of patients are never prescribed medication as minors, those who do take medication consider it lifesaving and crucial,” said Lashutka. “It is a dangerous precedent for government to dictate when medication is appropriate in pediatrics.”
Lawmakers amended H.B. 68 to include House Bill 6 to prohibit trans girls from taking part in female athletics and override the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s trans student-athlete policy. H.B. 68 allows an athlete to sue for relief or damages if they are “deprived” of an athletic opportunity by a trans girl.
Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines spoke in favor of the bill during a Nov. 29 proponent hearing, testifying 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.”
Drag queen ban
In Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee.
House Bill 245 would ban “adult cabaret performances,” defined as a show “harmful to juveniles” that features “entertainers who exhibit a gender identity that is different from the performers’ or entertainers’ gender assigned at birth.” The bill would prohibit these shows in all locations other than “adult cabarets,” meaning “a nightclub, bar, juice bar, restaurant, bottle club or similar establishment.”
Blonde Vanity, a Columbus-based drag queen, said performers in Ohio are altering their acts to be viewed as less perverse in the wake of H.B. 245. Vanity noted the proposal is modeled after a Tennessee law ruled “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad” by a federal judge and said the measure is senseless given most drag shows already occur in private venues. Still, the performer worries the proposal will be abused to target the transgender community.
New Albany’s Silicon Heartland: How it changed in 2023 and what’s next
“I know a lot of queens who are scared to do certain things now because we are being put under such a microscope,” said Vanity, the queen who sparked Bellefontaine’s proposed city ordinance to ban drag shows that was blocked by Ohio’s Supreme Court.
Reps. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) and Angela King (R-Celina) are proposing the bill with the support of 41 out of 67 Ohio House Republican representatives. The 43 lawmakers outline the following penalties if entertainers are found violating the proposed law:
A misdemeanor of the first degree if a performance occurs in the presence of a juvenile under the age of 18.
A felony of the fifth degree if the performance is “obscene.”
A felony of the fourth degree if the performance is “obscene” and occurs in the presence of a juvenile under the age of 13.
Looking back at memorable moments in Ohio sports in 2023
Williams said the bill’s intention is to modernize Ohio’s revised code regarding obscenity viewed by minors, not to effectively ban drag in Ohio. The lawmaker stressed that the proposed measure only means to prohibit shows “harmful to juveniles,” with events like drag story time readings and plays like “Mrs. Doubtfire” covered under the First Amendment.
“We’re saying, look, we want equality for all, we want everyone to be treated equally in the state of Ohio, that includes our entertainers,” he said. “You’re going to be held to the same standard, which is don’t engage in obscene conduct in the presence of a minor.”
Trans Bathroom Ban
In Ohio House Higher Education Committee.
House Bill 183 would prohibit schools from allowing trans students to use a bathroom that doesn’t correspond with the gender assigned to them at birth. The bill states institutions are required to set separate facilities based on a student’s “biological sex,” meaning “the sex listed on a person’s official birth record.”
Rep. Beth Lear (R-Galena) and Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) introduced the bill at the Statehouse in May with 19 Republican co-sponsors. During the bill’s first hearing on Oct. 5, Lear said that modern education teaches children’s feelings should be “constantly affirmed,” including feelings of identity regardless of whether they are “rooted in reality.”
Minimum wage to increase in Ohio next week
“Boys cannot become girls, and girls cannot become boys,” Lear said. “The modern issue of gender is not a social construct, but the idea you can change your gender is.”
This is in spite of a study from the UCLA School of Law that found no evidence that allowing trans people to use public facilities that align with their gender identity increases safety risks. It also goes against the American Academy of Pediatrics’ policy on caring for trans children that independently defines sex and gender identity, which “develops over time, much the same way as a child’s physical body does” and “can be fluid, shifting in different contexts.”
H.B. 183 also prohibits schools from letting students share overnight accommodations with students of the opposite “biological sex.” Institutions would still be allowed to offer single-use facilities and the bill would not apply to children under 10 being assisted by a family member, or to someone helping a student with a disability.
Bradie Anderson, a 14-year-old trans student, testified they transferred to a public school after they were no longer welcome to attend a private Catholic school. Anne Anderson, Bradie’s mother, said the politicization of the trans community is stripping away Bradie’s rights.
“For people who are all about parental rights, what about mine?” said Anderson. “Please vote not on advancing this discriminatory bill as it will have awful repercussions for kids like Bradie.”
Ohio rejected 777 license plates in 2023
Cam Ogden, a trans college student, testified they were sexually assaulted on campus and held their own mouth shut out of fear of being outed as trans by their own voice. Since then, Ogden said she struggles with anxiety in campus environments and uses the women’s restroom to avoid running into those who attacked her.
“Addressing this committee, I feel that same fear again. I’m afraid of how you will choose to treat me and the other students here today because we’re transgender,” said Ogden. “Across the state, transgender youth are afraid of you.”
The legislation marks the first statewide proposal in Ohio aiming to restrict bathroom use by trans students. However, the debate has been elevated to a federal court in Ohio after Dayton-area parents and students sued a school district for allowing trans students to use communal restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
Parents’ Bill of Rights
Passed the Ohio House in June, in Senate Education Committee.
House Bill 8 — the “Parents’ Bill of Rights” — would require teachers to notify parents before teaching “sexuality content” and of any change in a student’s mental, emotional or physical health. Rep. D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) and Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) reintroduced the bill in 2023 after that legislation failed to pass Ohio’s General Assembly in 2022.
“The Parents’ Bill of Rights is about informing parents that, yes, you get to know more about your child’s learning, and we are not keeping you out,” said Carruthers before the bill passed in June. “Many parents right now feel unwelcomed and disenfranchised and that is what the bill is targeting.”
Lawmakers altered the legislation to swap the term “sexually explicit content” in the bill to “sexuality content,” defined as “any oral or written instruction, presentation, image or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology.” The bill also requires schools to inform parents of a student’s request “to identify as a gender that does not align with the student’s biological sex.”
Lieutenant governor asks lawmakers to tweak Ohio marijuana law
“H.B. 8 is a hateful attack on Ohio’s teachers and our children, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community,” said Rep. Jessica Miranda (D-Forest Park). “My colleagues have introduced a piece of legislation that they believe will stop teachers from saying gay in classrooms and force educators to out their students.”
The legislation would also provide parents the opportunity to request excusal for their child from lessons, and parents whose concerns aren’t resolved after 30 days would be granted a hearing with the district’s board of education.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
