The Ohio Senate on Wednesday approved a ban on transgender students using bathrooms that fit their gender identities and sent the measure to Gov. Mike DeWine.
Senate Bill 104 is headed to DeWine after this vote, which happened in the first legislative session following the election. DeWine suggested earlier this year that he's likely to sign it.
The bill makes operational changes in the College Credit Plus program, which allows students in grades 7-12 to receive high school and college credit. When SB 104 passed the House in a late night session in June, Republicans added a provision that requires primary and secondary education - both public and private schools - to designate bathrooms and facilities for the exclusive use of one gender.
"It revolves around the safety, security and I think common sense," said Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), one of the two sponsors of the bill in the Senate's floor debate. "It protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable. It is us using our legislative authority to ensure schools are, in fact, safe environments. After all, bathrooms, showers, changing rooms should all be safe places for our students."
Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said the timing was right to pass this bill in the first vote following the four-month break for the election.
"There's a lot of other legislation we're trying to get through in the Senate," Huffman said. "What we what I wanted to do today, and I think, the majority of the Senate wanted to do, was to get the things done that we can get done right now, all the other bills. And I think we'll have a pretty full schedule on next week."
Huffman added, “I think that that this bill in fact protects the rights of most people - in fact, everybody, including the folks who want the bill passed."
Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) asked for the names of the six Democratic senators who had cosponsored the original bill be removed from it.
Before the vote, LGBTQ advocates urged lawmakers to reconsider, saying trans students are already bullied and feel their safety is threatened.
"Anti-trans bathroom bills, any other anti-trans legislation is going to make that worse. And our kids, our youth, they're going to suffer as a result of this," said Matina Bliss with Honesty in Ohio Education. "And they already are, even before this bill is passed."
Legislation relating to trans people became talking points for Republicans in this election. The activists said they're also concerned that GOP officeholders who spent millions on ads with anti-trans messages will be emboldened by their wins.
"I think any time we see adults who are in a position of power, whether that is a teacher or a state legislator, using their position of power to bully others, it becomes very difficult to enforce the 'golden rule' - treat others the way you want to be treated," said Mallory Golski of Kaleidoscope Youth Center. “It is dangerous to spread lies and misinformation, whether on the campaign trail or here at the Statehouse."
The LGBTQ advocates spoke to reporters in a room at the Statehouse just down the hall from the Atrium, where the Center for Christian Virtue was hosting a prayer rally.
Eleven states - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah - have some form of a bathroom ban. All of those states, along with Ohio, voted Republican in last week's election.
