COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Republican lawmakers passed a bill banning transgender students from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. Gov. Mike DeWine has already agreed to sign the legislation that impacts K-12 and colleges.
"Being seen in a bathroom where it doesn't look like you belong puts transgender students in danger,” college student Leo Duru said.
Duru came out as transgender when he was 12 — and said he had been verbally and physically harassed and attacked after entering bathrooms that didn't align with his identity as a trans man.
"I still overthink every move I make and try to leave during classes so that fewer people will be in the restrooms," he said.
Now, he fears what will happen under Ohio’s soon-to-be law.
The Senate passed S.B. 104, which requires all public schools and colleges to mandate that students can only use the bathroom or locker room that matches their sex assigned at birth. Originally, state Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond introduced this in House Bill 183, but the legislation was slid into an uncontroversial and unrelated bill as an amendment at 11 p.m. during the last session before the summer recess.
An official birth record would be used to prove "biological sex" as long as the certificate was "issued at or near the time of the individual's birth," seemingly saying that it wouldn't matter if a birth record is changed to reflect the individual's identity.
TransOhio’s Dara Adkison said this would make the lives of queer youth harder — after Ohio already banned gender-affirming care and their participation in school sports earlier this year.
"There are people that hate them, somewhat unequivocally, just for wanting to use the bathroom," Adkison said.
Parents of LGBTQ+ teens are worried about their kids' safety.
RELATED: Parents of transgender kids worried after Ohio House passes K-12, college bathroom ban
However, state Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) said the bill is about public safety.
"I understand that it is controversial, but it is an issue of protection for those people that are vulnerable," Bird, the bill sponsor, said.
However, there is no evidence of safety risks by letting trans people use facilities that align with their identity, a study from UCLA found. Also, it's the transgender teens who face a greater risk of sexual assaults in schools that prevent them from using their choice of bathrooms, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported.
Still, Bird said that there is enough fear that assaults could happen if the bill isn’t passed.
"We don't want is men in the girl's restroom," the Republican added. "I think also that the other way is true too because as a young man, you don't wanna be falsely accused in a restroom by somebody of the opposite sex that has come in there."
It is, in ways, a preventive bill, he added.
The recent election and the mass GOP sweep show Bird and other lawmakers that policy around transgender individuals is something voters care about.
"The American people voted [President-elect Trump] into office when he was talking about this issue," Bird said. "To me, it shows that Ohio is three or four years ahead of where the rest of the nation was on this."
I asked the lawmaker about the students who said this would make their lives more difficult or feel unsafe because of the policy.
"There's no effort on our part to make life harder, but we are trying to protect those that we consider very vulnerable," he responded.
Bird said after hearing feedback from community members, he added some exceptions:
- Children under 10 being helped by a parent
- An individual with a disability being helped by someone, such as a caretaker
- A school employee who has to go into the facility, like a janitor
- Someone who is responding to a “legitimate emergency”
But this leaves certain schools in flux. Some college dorm floors only have a large communal bathroom, meaning there is no gendered bathroom or single-use stall on the floor. Also, some K-12 schools may not have any single stalls at all.
"This bill may require some places to do a little investing in building," Bird said in a previous interview on the topic. "That's not something that we put money in the bill and so they're gonna have to deal with that."
When asked why there was no money appropriated, he responded that there wasn't any "will amongst the caucus" to provide more dollars for it.
It is all about safety, so schools should want to spend money on it, he added.
This bill also prohibits schools and universities from constructing or maintaining a multi-occupancy facility that is designated as "nongendered, multi-gendered or open to all genders."
"This is a targeted attack against people who can't fully speak for themselves," Adkison said.
The advocate is wondering why this was the first priority for legislators after coming back from their summer recess. We are now in the lame-duck period, which means lawmakers are in a hurry to pass everything they deem important by the end of the year.
RELATED: Ohio lawmakers hurry to pass bills during lame duck session
"It pains me for all of the things that our government could be accomplishing to actually help Ohioans, and instead we're spending this time, these resources just trying to get people to be able to pee," they said.
Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) explained that this was always a priority, and they would have passed it sooner had the House given it to them earlier.
DeWine's team said he is prepared to sign it but is waiting to read the finalized bill. It would go into effect 90 days after the governor's signature.
Ohio would become part of the dozen states to have a "bathroom ban." North Carolina's, however, was partially repealed after immense backlash and legal challenges.
Ohio LGBTQ+ advocates told me they are already planning their discrimination lawsuits.
