Bill restricting transgender students’ bathroom use in schools passes Ohio Legislature 24-7

The Ohio Senate has passed a bill requiring students to use restrooms corresponding to their sex assigned at birth, which could force many transgender students to use restrooms that do not match their gender identity.

Adopted on November 13 by 24 votes to 7, the project supported by the Republicans Senate Bill 104 understands the Protecting All Students Act – or Sec. 3319.90 – which requires K-12 public schools and universities to designate bathrooms and other facilities, such as locker rooms, locker rooms, and showers, for “exclusive use” by biological, male students or women.

THE Invoice specifies that this ban does not apply to family bathrooms and bedrooms, emergency situations, children under 10 years of age and/or people with disabilities who need assistance. The ban also does not apply to bathrooms and “single occupancy” facilities.

Ohio House added Parliamentary Bill 183 – a bathroom ban bill – in SB 104 and passed it before going on hiatus in June.

Now, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has until November 24 to either veto the bill or sign it, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.

Ohio State Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond), creator of the Protect All Students Act, said SB 104 focuses on student safety in private spaces.

“This legislation has always been about protecting students, and I think that’s something we should all be able to agree on,” Bird said on the Ohio House of Representatives. press release. “Many Ohioans do not want their local schools to allow opposite-sex access to restrooms or locker rooms. The Protect All Students Act will provide clarity and a unified approach for school leaders across the state.

Ohio State Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) – co-sponsor of SB 104 – said the bill was originally an “enhancement of the College Credit Plus program,” which allows high school students to enroll in college courses to earn dual credit, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce website.

In an interview with The Lantern, Cirino said that over the summer, the Ohio Senate passed the original bill through the House through the legislative process for approval; subsequently, the House amended SB 104 to include the bathroom bill.

“We passed Senate Bill 104; I think it was May or June of this year,” Cirino said. “It passed the Senate unanimously, so we sent it to the House. The House, before the summer adjournment, added what is commonly called “the toilet bill” to our original 104. Because it was originally a Senate bill – my bill – when the House amended it, it had to come back to us in the Senate to approve their changes.

The restroom bill’s amendment to SB 104 will increase the safety of students at private institutions by protecting them from opposite-sex interactions, Cirino said.

“This bill affects all students,” Cirino said. “It’s the non-trans students we seek to protect. Bathrooms, toilets, showers, changing rooms: people are very vulnerable in these environments, and they need to be safe and feel safe. This goes for everyone.

Cirino said this bill establishes parameters for Ohio schools and universities, requiring them to label bathrooms and facilities for the exclusive use of men or women. He said that with SB 104, students can only use labeled facilities that match the gender listed on their birth certificate.

“K-12 schools, all public charter schools, up to universities and community colleges, must now clearly label their institutions as male or female, and the determination depends on what is on your charter. birth when you are born, or shortly after, when you are born,” Cirino said.

SB 104 does not require students to submit their birth certificate to educational institutions to access restrooms. Nonetheless, Cirino said he believes a “verification process” should be implemented for students who face complaints about using restrooms that do not appear to correspond with their biological sex.

“Unless a school system normally requires (a birth certificate) to verify that they’re in their district and that sort of thing, our bill doesn’t require it,” Cirino said. “But if someone files a complaint – let’s say, hypothetically, a girl complains that there’s a boy in her bathroom, and she files that complaint with the administration. At this point there should be a verification process.

Ohio State Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) said in an interview with The Lantern that supporters of SB 104 failed to address the ban’s broader implications on transgender students and cisgender.

“They kept trying to say, ‘We need to protect girls from predatory men in their bathrooms,'” Smith said. “The other argument was, ‘It’s not gender inversion, it’s gender affinity.’ I have friends who have made the transition. When I met them, they were female, and now it’s a male, and they look like a man. But if you now want to send this individual to the women’s bathroom, they won’t talk about it when we vote on the bill.”

Smith said SB 104 is “fundamentally discriminatory” and maintained his position opposing the bill.

“This is a largely embarrassing and shameful moment for the Ohio General Assembly, and I am proud to have voted no,” Smith said.

According to BS 104This ban also extends to the maintenance or creation of unisex bathrooms and facilities on college campuses that can be used by more than one person at a time.

“No institution of higher education shall construct, establish, or maintain a multi-occupancy facility designated as gender-neutral, multi-gender, or open to all sexes,” the bill states.

Notably, the Ohio State American Civil Liberties Union Action Team is calling on DeWine to reject the bill and not sign it.

“The Action Team, along with the ACLU of Ohio, strongly urge Governor DeWine to veto this bill in order to protect the privacy of transgender youth in Ohio,” Noor said Pasha, fourth-year political science student and president of the action team. , said in an email. “SB 104 will create harmful and unsafe environments for transgender and gender non-conforming people, blatantly ignoring that this community experiences higher rates of bathroom sexual violence than cisgender individuals. »

Cirino said SB 104 was not created to target transgender students, and while he feels empathy toward the trans community, he said the bill is intended to prioritize safety students in school spaces.

“There is no animosity in this bill toward transgender people,” Cirino said. “I sympathize with people who are going through either dysphoria or some sort of identity crisis, and we wish them the best and hope that they can get their act together. But we don’t need to put people at risk and make them uncomfortable – especially in this case, girls – by allowing men into their restrooms, locker rooms and showers.

Ben Johnson, a university spokesman, said in an email that Ohio State is “reviewing” SB 104 and emphasized the university’s commitment to inclusiveness.

“We are reviewing the legislation and committed to creating a welcoming environment for all members of our community,” Johnson said.