Republicans at the Ohio Statehouse – and in state capitols across the country – are pushing anti-transgender legislation with very similar language.
On this week's episode of Snollygoster, Ohio's politics podcast from WOSU, hosts Mike Thompson and Steve Brown discuss this trend with Associated Press reporter Jeff McMillan.
Trans bans
Republicans in the Ohio House are pushing a number of anti-transgender bills. This week, a House committee approved a bill to ban gender-affirming care for minors and bar transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams.
The full House was supposed to vote on another bill Wednesday that would make schools notify parents about the teaching of any “sexuality content” and would also make teachers tell parents if a student identifies with a gender other than the one assigned at birth. But that vote was delayed.
These bills are just the latest in a wave of anti-transgender legislation being introduced in statehouses across the country. Many of these bills come from the same conservative think tanks.
Snollygoster of the week
Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose is saying a bill he testified about to state lawmakers and encouraged state lawmakers to pass does not apply to state lawmakers.
We’re talking about the law passed last year that bans most August elections. It says the state can only have elections when there are fiscal emergencies. But as listeners to this podcast know, state lawmakers recently passed a resolution to create an August election to ask voters to make it harder to change the state constitution.
Now, LaRose is saying the law passed through the Ohio Legislature does not apply to them. He says lawmakers have always had and still have the authority to hold an election whenever they want.
LaRose maintains that it’s still good legislation. He just doesn’t think it applies to lawmakers.
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