Ohio governor signs bill restricting trans students' school bathroom use
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill banning transgender students from using school restrooms that align with their gender identities.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill Wednesday banning transgender students from using school restrooms that align with their gender identities. The Republican-majority state Senate pushed forward SB 104, also known as the “Protect All Students Act,” in a 24-7 party-line vote.
“No school shall permit a member of the female biological sex to use a student restroom, locker room, changing room, or shower room that has been designated by the school for the exclusive use of the male biological sex,” and vice versa, the bill reads.
The bill defines “biological sex” as the “biological indication of male and female, including sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, gonads, and nonambiguous internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to an individual’s psychological, chosen, or subjective experience of gender.” The bill adds that a birth certificate may be used as proof of biological sex if it was “issued at or near the time of the individual’s birth.”
SB 104 applies to Ohio’s public K-12 schools, as well as colleges and universities. Other states have passed laws that seek to regulate which restrooms trans people can use, as well, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah.
The bill also mandates that Ohio schools cannot have restrooms or locker rooms that are open to all genders, excluding family facilities or single-occupancy facilities. Exceptions to the bill include children under 10 who are being assisted by family members, school employees whose job duties require them to enter all restrooms or people with disabilities who are being assisted.
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