On Tuesday, a Franklin County judge upheld a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
"We should all be angry and upset and outraged,” said Erin Upchurch, executive director for Kaleidoscope Youth Center, an LGBTQ+ advocacy center in downtown Columbus.
Other LGBTQ+ organizations and supporters have said they’re “devastated” by Tuesday’s ruling.
Upchurch said when Kaleidoscope staff announced the ruling, young people lined up seeking support. One person reported feeling suicidal.
“This is not an issue of faith or religion or agreeing with anybody. This is an issue of humanity and people having the right to exist,” Upchurch said.
The decision comes from a lawsuit filed in March in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas which sought to block House Bill 68, the source of the ban. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two 12-year-old transgender girls from Franklin and Hamilton counties. Their families and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio argued they would lose “critical, medically necessary health care” under HB 68.
Judge Michael Holbrook temporarily stopped the law from taking effect, but ultimately decided that HB 68 doesn’t violate Ohio’s single subject rule for legislation and doesn’t violate the state’s “health care freedom.”
The ban took effect immediately with Holbrook’s decision. HB 68 also bans trans athletes from playing in girls’ and women’s sports.
But Upchurch said Wednesday that HB 68 is “very blatant discrimination.”
“It's specifically targeted a very specific group of citizens of the state of Ohio and those are transgender youth,” Upchruch said. “It takes away the right of young people to have autonomy, and it strips away their right to privacy, and it effectively undermines the rights of parents and guardians.”
TransOhio called the court decision “a cruel farce and a slap in the face” in a statement on social media.
“Despite repeated attempts to reduce and restrict access to support systems and public spaces for trans, nonbinary, intersex and gender non-conforming youth, transgender Ohioans cannot be legislated away,” wrote Dara Adkison, executive director of TransOhio. “Our youth deserve so much better from our courts, government and elected officials."
The National Association of Social Workers Ohio wrote on social media that it “stands firm in our support for transgender individuals of all ages.”
NASW Ohio notes that despite the ruling, gender-affirming mental healthcare is still legal for minors, though with HB 68, it comes with new regulations. NASW Ohio has released practice guidance and free training for behavioral health providers.
Some conservatives, including Attorney General Dave Yost, have applauded the court's decision.
This case has always been about the legislature’s authority to enact a law to protect our children from making irreversible medical and surgical decisions about their bodies,” wrote Yost’s communications director, Bethany McCorkle, in a statement. “The law doesn’t say 'no' forever; it simply says, 'not now’ while the child is still growing."
ACLU of Ohio filed an appeal of the ruling with the Tenth District Court of Appeals.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 9-8-8.
