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Ohio university posts 'biological sex' restroom signs, then says it was a mistake

University of Cincinnati entrance Public restroom signs

Chad Robertson Media via Shutterstock; Chalermphol Liawsutee/shutterstock

The signs at the University of Cincinnati were put up as a result of a new Ohio law. Students are outraged over them as well as the potential rollback of DEI programs.

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The University of Cincinnati has put up signs on restrooms saying they are for “biological men” or “biological women,” supposedly to comply with a new Ohio law, but now the university president says the signage was an error.

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Last year the state legislature passed Senate Bill 104, requiring students at K-12 schools, colleges, and universities in the state to use the restrooms for their sex assigned at birth, not their gender identity, and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed it into law. It went into effect Tuesday, but the university had already put up the signs last week. Many students and staff were outraged and shared videos of the signs on social media, CityBeat reports.

That and a move to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at the school led to a protest by hundreds of students Tuesday. Some were let into the university’s board of trustees meeting, the first of the year.

The university appears to be complying in advance with an Ohio bill that has yet to become law, Senate Bill 1, which “would ban all diversity and inclusion efforts at all Ohio public universities and community colleges and limit diversity scholarships,” CityBeat reports. “The bill would also require students to take an American history course and set rules around classroom discussions with topics involving ‘controversial beliefs,’ which the bill defines as ‘any belief or policy that is the subject of political controversy,’” including abortion, DEI, climate change, and even electoral politics. It has passed the Ohio Senate, while a companion bill is pending in the House of Representatives.

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University officials also cited Donald Trump’s executive orders against DEI, parts of which were blocked by a federal court last week. The administration will probably appeal the preliminary injunction against the orders. Before the ruling came down, the Department of Education — which Trump wants to abolish anyway — sent out a letter threatening loss of federal funding at schools that maintain race-conscious DEI programs. University of Cincinnati President Neville Pinto released a statement Friday saying the school is examining its DEI initiatives and “evaluating jobs and duties related to DEI.”

But Pinto told the protesters, “Right now all of the programs we have can continue. SB 1 has not been passed yet.”

He also said the posting of the restroom signs “was an error.” The University of Cincinnati is apparently the first in Ohio to put up such signs. But “it is unclear when or if the signs will be changed back,” The Cincinnati Enquirerreports.

Scott Knox, who has two degrees from the university, wondered how it would enforce the “biological sex” policy. “Is there going to be a genital checker at the door?” he told the Enquirer. “Why are they making a rule that can't be enforced? Beyond the cruelty of it, it’s so poorly thought out.”

Even a cosponsor of SB 104, Republican Rep. Adam Bird, said the language on the signs is unnecessary. “They are doing the best that they can to comply with the letter of the law,” Bird told the Enquirer. “That language is the actual law language. It is not necessary, but if a school needs to be that specific, then they should do what is best for their university.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is considering litigation regarding the restroom law, its legal director, Freda Levenson, told the paper.

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