Ohio passes bans on trans youth in sports & gender-affirming care

Ohio’s bicameral legislature has passed H.B. 68, a bill combining bans on transgender athletes and gender-affirming care. The Ohio House of Representatives will now conduct a final vote on the bill before sending it to Gov. Mike DeWine (R).

While numerous LGBTQ+ allies and health clinics lobbied and testified against the bill, DeWine hasn’t indicated whether he’ll sign it into law. He opposed a trans athlete ban in 2021, saying trans sports policies should be handled by separate athletic associations.

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H.B. 68 began as a standalone ban on gender-affirming care for youth, but House legislators added the athletic ban to it in June, a week before voting 64-28 along party lines to pass the bill. The bill would prohibit healthcare providers from doing anything that “aids or abets” minors in accessing gender-affirming medical care.

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The law would also prohibit mental health professionals from treating any minors with a “gender-related condition” without their parents’ consent, The Hill reported. Additionally, mental health professionals would be forbidden from diagnosing any child with gender dysphoria without also considering other concurrent mental health conditions, such as “depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and potential physical, sexual, mental and emotional abuse and other possible trauma,” Cleveland.com reported.

The bill, which the Ohio Senate approved in a 24-8 vote on Wednesday, also contains an amendment allowing doctors to continue providing gender-affirming care to their current trans minor patients.

Over 600 people testified against the bill, including LGBTQ+ advocates, medical professionals, families, and trans individuals, The Hill added. Many others protested in the legislature’s halls and could be heard on the House and Senate floors as lawmakers discussed the bill. Republicans said that the testimony didn’t sway their decision because a majority of Ohio voters support the bill.

“We appreciate you coming to express your positions,” state Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D) told trans Ohioans who testified against the bill. “Some of us heard you, and I just urge you to not give up because the work will continue. There are things that can be done in order to ensure that all Ohioans are treated with dignity and respect.”

“We understand that our young people have so many different types of trials and trauma that they have to deal with,” she continued. “And unfortunately, this legislature is going to add an additional trauma to that. For that, I apologize. But I’m just saying, the battle is not over.”

A July poll found that 69.6% of Ohioans opposed allowing trans girls to play on female sports teams in K-12 schools and universities. An October 2022 poll found that 65.6% of Ohioans opposed doctors providing gender-affirming care to trans minors.

LGBTQ+ advocates have reportedly been contacting DeWine to ask him to veto the bill. If he signs it into law, Ohio will become the 24th state to ban trans girls and women from playing school sports as their gender and the 23rd to ban trans minors from receiving gender-affirming medical care.