(Image via apnews.com)
Staff Writer: Gwen Pichette
Email: gpichette@umass.edu
The Ohio Senate just greenlit legislation that will ban transgender students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their preferred gender identity.
The bill requires students to go to a designated bathroom and locker room that instead aligns with their biological sex. All multi-gender facilities will be prohibited.
Entirely party-line, the Ohio Senate passed the bill, titled “Protect All Students Act” (SB 104), with an overwhelming majority vote of 24-7.
To many, the title of the bill rings false.
Jocelyn Rosnick, the policy director of Ohio’s American Civil Liberties Union, believes it is likely to harm more students than to protect them. In a statement, Rosnick warns,
“If allowed to go into effect, SB 104 will create unsafe environments for trans and gender non-conforming individuals of all ages. This bill ignores the material reality that transgender people endure higher rates of sexual violence and assaults, particularly while using public restrooms, than people who are not transgender.”
Just one of the many controversies of the bill is the fact that it does not make any exceptions for intersex individuals or those who are biologically born with both female and male characteristics.
Because biological sex is what dictates what facility individuals are permitted to use, there is much uncertainty as to how gray areas like this will be navigated.
Others, like Republican state Senator Jerry C. Cirino, celebrate the bill’s passing as a win for public safety. He exclaims,
“It protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable. It is us using our legislative authority to ensure schools are, in fact, safe environments. After all, bathrooms, showers, and changing rooms should all be safe places for our students.”
The Center for Christian Virtue Director, David Mahan, also was quick to commend the passing of what he calls “common-sense legislation.”
At the time of this publication, the bill awaits signature from Republican Governor Mike DeWine, who, following a legal review, is expected to sign it.
This legislation comes just days before another bathroom ban that was implemented—this time, in the Capitol building.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced a policy that would ban transgender individuals from using bathrooms that do not correspond with their biological sex within certain areas of the White House.
While Johnson said:
“All single-sex facilities in the Capitol and House Office Buildings—such as restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms—are reserved for individuals of that biological sex,” he also noted that “each member’s office has its own private restroom, and unisex restrooms are available throughout the Capitol.”
Sarah McBride, who was elected in November as the first openly transgender member of Congress, believes there’s something far more malicious going on. She called this push from Republicans an intentional “attempt to misdirect” from issues that are significantly impacting Americans.
McBride stated:
“Every bit of time and energy that is used to divert the attention of the federal government to go after trans people is time and energy that is not focused on addressing the cost of living for our constituents. And we have to be clear that there is a real cost for the American worker every time they focus on this.”
It is also believed that South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace, who introduced the legislation first, is specifically targeting McBride.
This is because the legislation comes only two weeks after McBride’s election into Congress. When specifically asked, Mace said the legislation was “absolutely” in response to McBride’s election.
Mace has since posted a video on X of her placing a paper labeled “BIOLOGICAL” over a women’s bathroom sign in the Capitol building. She captioned it: “I never thought we would need a sign for this, but women’s restrooms are for BIOLOGICAL women. Not men.”
Watch the video here.
It also did not go unnoticed that this uptick in anti-trans legislation is occurring around Transgender Day of Remembrance—a day that honors transgender and gender non-conforming individuals killed by violence.
Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio criticized the decision as well, tearing into the bill in an online statement:
“I am in disbelief that this is a top priority on our first session back from recess. There are so many other issues we should be working on. There should be no exception to liberty and justice for all, yet here we are telling our children that there are people who are less than. This bill is not about bathrooms. It’s about demonizing those who are different, and our children are watching and listening to the fearmongering.”
The transgender bathroom debate, an issue that is largely split by party lines, continues to cause intense division across the nation.