A newly introduced Republican-backed bill would ban public universities in Ohio from asking about preferred pronouns on applications for schools and employment.
Rep. Gail Pavliga (R-Portage County) said House Bill 686 would prevent public universities from asking a person’s preferred pronouns on admission or employment applications.
“We just feel that at this point, it is something that is not something that we want to keep on there because we want to keep it unbiased and open to all as possible," Pavliga said.
Pavliga said professors could still ask their students to offer their preferred pronouns if they want. But she said there is no good reason for schools to ask for that.
“We don’t feel that it’s part of a person’s readiness either for employment with a university or for their acceptance into a university," Pavliga added. "We want to see it more focused on their qualifications, preparation and academics.”
Pavliga lost her primary in March, and won't be back in the House to reintroduce the bill if it fails to pass in the lame duck session. That seems likely, as it's had only one committee hearing.
The pronoun question is an optional one in the Common App. Thirteen Ohio institutions use that undergraduate application, which is employed by more than a thousand colleges and universities across the US and in other countries. But Pavliga said that's not a problem: "my assumption is, just as something is written in, it can be changed or deleted."
