Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine’s office said Wednesday he signed a bill banning transgender K-12 students from using bathrooms consistently with their transgender identity, according to his office. They can only use the bathrooms matching birth-assigned gender. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
License PhotoNov. 27 (UPI) — Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, signed a bill Wednesday banning transgender K-12 students from using school bathrooms consistent with their transgender identity. They must only use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their cisgender identity assigned at birth.
The Republican-backed bill, which goes into effect in 90 days, also outlaws schools from permitting transgender students to spend the night with peers of the same gender. DeWine ignored pleas from transgender Ohio residents, allies and educators to veto the bill.
“We made it clear to Gov. DeWine and Ohio legislators that SB 104 does nothing to make trans students safer in schools, and, in fact, makes life more dangerous for trans kids in Ohio,” Equality Ohio Executive Director Dwayne Steward said in a statement.
“We are deeply disappointed that Gov. DeWine has allowed this dangerous bill to become law that puts vulnerable trans youth at risk for abuse and harassment. Equality Ohio will continue to stand in solidarity with our transgender communities and their families, and we will always fight for fairness in Ohio.”
At least a 14 other states prevent transgender people bathroom access that corresponds to their gender identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
DeWine’s office announced the bill had been signed in a brief statement.
While he declined an ABC News request for comment ahead of the bill signing, the governor told reporters last summer, “I’m for people, kids, to be able to go to the bathroom with the gender assignment so that they have that protection, but I’ll have to look at the specific language.”
The law, Senate Bill 104, states: “No institution of higher education shall knowingly permit a member of the female biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the male biological sex. No institution of higher education shall knowingly permit a member of the male biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the female biological sex.”
It made it to the governor’s desk after passing the Republican-majority state’s Senate earlier this month 24-7 and the state’s House 60-31 in late June.
“Common sense is on a winning streak in America today,” said Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, an ultra-conservative Christian lobby labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“No student should be forced to go into the bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite sex, and Ohio’s kids are better protected now because of Governor DeWine’s decision to sign this bill.”
Gender identity can be different than the biological sex assigned at birth.
The American Medical Association opposes laws or policies banning transgender people from accessing basic human services and public facilities consistent with their personal gender identity.
According to a study published in the journal Pediatrics, transgender youth who are barred from using bathrooms aligned with their gender identities are at a greater risk of sexual violence.
The transgender school bathroom ban was added to H.B. 183 late in the process of considering a broader education bill. The Ohio Senate concurred with the change added in by the House.
