(The Center Square) – The Ohio Senate passed legislation Wednesday afternoon that would ban transgender students from using restroom facilities that align with their gender identity and multi-sex bathrooms at schools across the state.
The bathroom ban easily passed the Republican majority Senate during the lame duck session 24-7 and now goes to Gov. Mike DeWine.
It requires all state K-12 schools and colleges to mandate that students can only use a bathroom or locker room that aligns with their gender at birth. It also prohibits schools from having bathrooms for both sexes.
“This gets back to the transgender discussion. We as a Legislature need to set overall parameters,” said Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware. “We have separate bathrooms, but we also have family bathrooms that can still be used. We have had for generations separate locker rooms for men and women, and it is about the well-being of the students. That’s what this is about. It’s about safety.”
Originally House Bill 183, the bathroom ban bill became part of Senate Bill 104 on the House floor, which was passed before lawmakers recessed earlier this summer. SB104 originally made changes to the Ohio College Credit Plus program.
Sen. Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said the bill is destined for litigation and the Senate could have used its first day back in session better.
“There is a whole lot of other stuff we could be working on right now, but this is the one. Is this really what we need to be spending our time doing?” Antonio said on the Senate floor. “It’s not really about the bathrooms. It’s about demonizing people. We are telling our children there are people who are less than. They are not the same. They are not allowed to behave like the rest of us. That is a terrible bill.”