Ohio Gov. DeWine signs anti-trans school bathroom law

Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Wednesday he signed legislation that bans transgender people from using bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities that align with their gender identity in public and private schools in the state.

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The new law takes effect 90 days after the bill’s signing.

The “Protect All Students Act” was originally designed to help high school students earn college credits. However, an anti-trans provision was later added to the bill. The Ohio legislature passed the bill on November 13 during Transgender Awareness Week and sent it to DeWine for his signature.

The new law mandates that all public and private schools, including K-12 and colleges and universities, provide bathrooms, locker rooms, and overnight accommodations based upon a person’s sex assigned “at or near birth.” The law applies to all school buildings, facilities, and school-sponsored activities.

The law does not provide any enforcement mechanism.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican state Sen. Jerry Cirino, said the bill was about “safety, security, and, I think, common sense” to “protect our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable,” the Associated Press reports.

Ohio is now one of 11 states barring transgender women and girls from using bathrooms and changing facilities aligned with their gender identity. Ohio is also one of 26 states banning gender-affirming care for minors and one of 24 with some form of restriction on the participation of trans student-athletes.

Last December, DeWine vetoed a bill that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors. The veto was overridden by the Republican-dominated legislature the following month. An Ohio judge placed a hold on the new law but later let it take effect as well as a law banning trans student-athletes from competing in sports aligned with their gender identity in the state.

In January, state Rep. Beth Lear used a verse from the Bible to suggest trans kids should be drowned.

“In Luke 17, Jesus says that if you cause one of these little ones of mine to stumble, it would be better for you to have a millstone hung around your neck and be thrown into the deepest sea,” state Rep. Beth Lear said during a committee hearing.

Lear also compared transgender people to animals.

“If I had a child who thought he was a bird, am I going to take him to a doctor who tells him the best thing to do is to let him explore being a bird?” Lear continued. “And oh, by the way, there’s a five-story building next door — why don’t you jump off and see if you can fly?”