LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: BY: MEGAN HENRY –

Opponents of new Ohio higher education law don’t have enough signatures to get a referendum

Amanda Fehlbaum, one of three Youngstown State University faculty members who tried to get referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot to stop Senate Bill 1, spoke at a press conference on June 26. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal).

By: Megan Henry – Ohio Capital Journal

Opponents of Ohio Republican lawmakers’ higher education overhaul that bans diversity efforts and faculty strikes, and sets rules around classroom discussion, have failed to collect enough signatures to put a referendum on the ballot this year to block it.

Members of the Youngstown State University’s chapter of the Ohio Education Association tried to get a referendum on the Nov. 4 ballot to stop Ohio Senate Bill 1, but said they ultimately ran out of time.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

“Over the course of the last few days, we were collecting over 4,000 signatures a day, and that momentum was only increasing,” said Youngstown State’s Ohio Education Association President Mark Vopat. “It was only because we ran out of time that we weren’t able to get the required signatures. … I believe that if we’d had just a little bit more time, we could have gotten those numbers.”

They needed to collect about 248,092 signatures from at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties — 6% of the total vote cast for governor during the last gubernatorial election.

Instead, they collected nearly 195,000 signatures and met the signature requirements in at least 33 counties, said Amanda Fehlbaum, a Youngstown State faculty member who helped champion efforts to get a referendum.

The plan was to submit the collected signatures to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Thursday for him to verify the signatures. This was the deadline to submit signatures since the law goes into effect Friday.

The new law creates post-tenure reviews, puts diversity scholarships at risk, sets rules around classroom discussion, and creates a retrenchment provision that blocks unions from negotiating on tenure, among other things. The law affects Ohio’s public universities and community colleges.

“One thing is clear in all of this, the people do not want politicians making decisions about higher education,” Fehlbaum said. “The people do not like this legislation.”

S.B. 1 quickly passed through the legislature earlier this year and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law on March 28.

Fehlbaum said she thought another group “with infrastructure and funding” would come forward to challenge S.B. 1 after DeWine signed it into law, but that never happened so they decided to go the referendum route.

Vopat and Fehlbaum along with fellow Youngstown State faculty member Cryshanna Jackson Leftwich started the referendum process in mid-April and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and the Ohio Secretary of State’s office gave them approval to start collecting signatures May 5.

“I do think we could have pulled this off had we not wasted two weeks waiting on another group or groups to come forward,” Fehlbaum said.

Vopat agrees they would have been able to get enough signatures if they had started the referendum process immediately after DeWine signed the bill into law.

“That might have also given us the extra time we needed,” he said.

The three Youngstown State faculty members said they are figuring out next steps and considering efforts to potentially try to get on the ballot in 2026.

“This is not the end for us,” Jackson Leftwich said. “I want people to know that we’re going to use this momentum.”

More than 1,700 people volunteered to collect signatures across the state. They ended up raising more than $43,000 in small dollar donations with $1,000 being their largest donation, Fehlbaum said.

“I cannot underscore how much we did not have money,” she said. “We did not have paid consultants. We did not have paid petitioners. None of us are getting paid. … There’s no dark money here.”

But they said it ultimately came down to a lack of time, not a shortage of money.

“I would love to take these boxes of petitions and put them on Jerry Cirino’s front door as a visible symbol of how detested this legislation is by the people,” Fehlbaum said. “We’re instead going to spend some of our remaining campaign funds on a shredding service so that information voters shared with us will not be mishandled.”

Cirino is the Republican Ohio state senator who introduced S.B. 1.

Some of Ohio’s public universities have started making decisions because of the new law. Ohio University announced it will close the Pride Center, the Women’s Center, and the Multicultural Center.

The University of Toledo is suspending nine undergraduate programs. Kent State University is closing its LGBTQ+ Center, Women’s Center, and Student Multicultural Center.

Referendums are rare and the last one that passed in Ohio was when voters overturned an anti-collective bargaining law in 2011.

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.c

Megan Henry

Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

Jun 28, 2025
‘We are going to push pause’ on Ohio marijuana legislation, says Republican lawmaker

By: Megan Henry – Ohio Capital Journal

Ohio lawmakers will likely go on summer break without making any changes to the state’s marijuana law, a Republican state representative said Tuesday.

For the second week in a row, Ohio Senate Bill 56 was up for a possible vote out of the Ohio House Judiciary Committee, but both times the vote did not take place.

Once the bill is voted out of committee, it can be brought to the House floor for a vote. The Senate passed the bill in February.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

Last week, the bill was removed from the committee agenda and this week the committee meeting — which only had S.B. 56 on the agenda — was canceled.

“We are going to push pause,” state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, said when asked about the marijuana bill. “We’re going to take the summer and come back and potentially take another crack at it.”

Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said the Senate raised more than a dozen issues related to S.B. 56 last week.

“I just told my caucus, ‘We’re not going to just say, OK, because we’re so anxious to pass the marijuana bill, which I’d like to get it done, but we’re not going to give up House priorities to do that,’” he said last week.

The lawmakers are currently working on the state’s two-year operating budget, which Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine must sign before July 1. The lawmakers will go on summer break after the budget is finished.

S.B. 56 would reduce the THC levels in adult-use marijuana extracts from a maximum of 90% down to a maximum of 70%, limit the number of active dispensaries to 400 and prohibit smoking in most public places.

It would keep Ohio’s home grow the same at a limit of six plants per person and 12 plants per residence. State Sen. Steve Huffman, R-Tipp City, introduced the bill in January and the bill originally would have limited Ohio’s home grow from 12 plants down to six.

Ohioans passed a citizen-initiated law to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023 with 57% of the vote, and sales started in August 2024. Ohio lawmakers can change the law since it passed as a citizen initiative not a constitutional amendment.

“The people of Ohio spoke very clearly on this issue,” said Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati. “They knew what they were voting on, and they voted to pass adult-use cannabis recreationally here in the state of Ohio.”

Intoxicating hemp products

The House has made significant changes to S.B. 56, most notably adding regulations to intoxicating hemp products.

As the bill currently stands, only a licensed marijuana dispensary would be able to sell intoxicating hemp products that have been tested and complied with packaging, labeling and advertising requirements.

The Ohio Department of Commerce would regulate intoxicating hemp products and drinkable cannabinoid products. Grocery stores, carryout stores, bars, and restaurants would continue to be able to sell drinkable cannabinoid products.

Isaacsohn agrees there should be regulations around intoxicating hemp products, but wants it to happen through a “clean bill.”

“It is so tied up in trying to overturn the will of the voters,” he said. “If we had a clean bill to fairly regulate intoxicating hemp, we could have voted on it months ago, years ago. … There are so many common sense things that we agree on, and when the majority brings forward a clean bill, we would be happy to vote for it.”

Flowers of hemp plants that contain less that 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original article.)

The 2018 Farm Bill says hemp can be grown legally if it contains less than 0.3% THC.

State Rep. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, was planning on introducing amendments to the bill’s hemp provisions during Tuesday’s committee meeting, but that didn’t happen since the meeting was canceled.

The American Republic Policy worked with Swearingen on the amendments which would have allowed licensed hemp companies in Ohio to continue to operate their retail stores and create a unified regulatory framework for hemp and marijuana products, said Dakota Sawyer of American Republic Policy.

“The same regulations that would apply to marijuana under the Ohio administration code would apply to hemp products as well,” he said. “We are ensuring that we do not have state-sanctioned monopolies in the state of Ohio, that federally legal hemp products can be accessed through independent businesses, and that they would not be forced to go into dispensaries.”

Sawyer said forcing hemp products into only dispensaries would eliminate market competition.

“We want to ensure that there are options out for people, to ensure that they are able to purchase what they love, what they would want … and to ensure that we do not have state-sanctioned monopolies,” he said.

State Rep. Jennifer Gross, R-West Chester, said 3,000 hemp businesses would close if S.B. 56 passes as it currently stands — with hemp products only being sold in dispensaries.

“We need to reward the good actors,” she said. “We need to ID check our hemp products when it is consumable. We also need to allow these businesses to stay open.”

Wesley Bryant, company owner of 420 Craft Beverages in Cleveland, said he already does many of the things that are outlined in the proposed amendment.

“Every square inch of my facility is fully covered by cameras,” he said. “We have a full track and traceability of everything that comes into my facility. We even go so far as to double check IDs. And my doors stay locked throughout the day. You have to be buzzed in order to enter the facility.”

DeWine and various lawmakers have expressed safety concerns for children when it comes to hemp products, but Sawyer said the average age of an Ohio hemp customer is 40 years old.

“It’s not geared towards children,” Sawyer said. “What some legislators have done is created this mystical boogeyman that says that all these hemp people are doing all these crazy things that are attracting minors. And essentially we’re saying, let’s punish the bad actors that are doing that, but let’s not punish the good guys for that.”

But Adrienne Robbin, deputy executive director of Ohio Cannabis Coalition (OHCANN), said Ohio children are being put at risk by intoxicating hemp products.

“It’s a sad day for all Ohioans that we’re going to continue to see these illicit products be sold in our state over the summer,” she said. “These products are being marketed to (children) specifically,” she said. “I think the hemp industry is really good at pulling a few good actors out and highlighting them, but the reality is, the majority of these products are illicit.”

Sawyer said he would prefer to see the legislation as two separate bills — one with marijuana regulations and a separate one with hemp regulations.

“Marijuana and hemp are totally separate in terms of the industry and products,” he said.

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.

Megan Henry

Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

Jun 25, 2025
Ohio college students, educators disappointed in Gov. DeWine for signing higher ed overhaul

Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal

The Ohio Student Association organized the mock funeral, which took place Monday afternoon in the Ohio Statehouse Rotunda, days after DeWine signed Senate Bill

By: Megan Henry – Ohio Capital Journal

Students donning black graduation robes held a mock funeral for the death of higher education after Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law that will overhaul the state’s public universities.

The Ohio Student Association organized the event, which took place Monday afternoon in the Statehouse Rotunda, days after DeWine signed Ohio Senate Bill 1.

S.B. 1 will ban diversity efforts, prohibit faculty strikes, regulate classroom discussion of “controversial” topics, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, create a retrenchment provision that block unions from negotiating on tenure, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

For classroom discussion, the bill will set rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion. It prohibits professors from “indoctrination,” and while it doesn’t define that, it allows complaints to be filed against professors for review by the Chancellor of the S.B. 1 will only affect Ohio’s public universities and community colleges.

“It was really surprising, the quickness that it was signed,” said Ohio State University junior Brielle Shorter. “I think signing it at such a time was really interesting as well, but it was truly heartbreaking.”

DeWine got the bill Wednesday — the same day the Ohio Senate concurred with changes to the bill made by the Ohio House — and he signed it Friday.

“As a Black student on campus, our spaces have already been slowly getting demolished,” Shorter said. “I believe that with this bill there’s going to be more changes like that.”

Ohio State recently closed its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of Student Life’s Center for Belonging and Social Change in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s Dear Colleague letter that threatened to rescind federal funds for schools that use race-conscious practices in admissions, programming, training, hiring, scholarships, and other aspects of student life.

Shorter said she has seen Ohio high school students post on social media how they are no longer interested in attending Ohio universities and instead plan to go to school out of state.

Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, said it is unfortunate DeWine signed S.B. 1 into law.

“It’s disappointing to see that he did that, even though the overwhelming amount of opposition that was expressed on the bill from faculty and from students and from concerned citizens was strongly against it,” he said. “I think it’s unfortunate to see collective bargaining rights of people who work in higher education diminished.”

Pranav Jani, president of Ohio State’s American Association of University Professors chapter, said they will fight the impact of the bill as it becomes law.

“We know that we stand with thousands of educators, students, and parents, who are disgusted by this naked display of governmental repression of higher education,” he said in a statement.

State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced S.B. 1, which took just over two months to pass both chambers and be signed into law.

“I believe this is monumentally significant legislation that will allow Ohio’s public universities and community colleges to deal with looming enrollment challenges and usher in a renaissance of academic excellence,” Cirino said in a statement.

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.

Megan Henry

Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

Apr 1, 2025
[BREAKING] Ohio Gov. DeWine signs higher ed bill regulating classroom discussion and banning diversity efforts

By: Megan Henry – Ohio Capital Journal

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday signed into law a massive higher education overhaul to ban diversity efforts, regulate classroom discussion, and prohibit faculty strikes, among other things. The law will take effect in 90 days.

S.B. 1 will set rules around classroom discussion, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, create a retrenchment provision that block unions from negotiating on tenure, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things.

For classroom discussion, the bill will set rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion. S.B. 1 would only affect Ohio’s public universities.

The bill moved quickly through the Statehouse. State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced S.B. 1, which passed the Ohio Senate in February and the Ohio House in March. Cirino introduced a nearly identical bill during the last General Assembly that went through several revisions, but the bill never made it the House floor and ultimately died.

The bill received overwhelming opposition from college students and professors. More than 1,500 people have submitted opponent testimony against the bill. Hundreds of students around the state have protested against the bill. Students and faculty have said they would leave Ohio if the bill becomes law.

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.

Megan Henry

Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

Mar 28, 2025
Students, faculty are asking Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to veto massive higher ed overhaul bill

Hundreds of students protested against Senate Bill 1 on Ohio State’s campus on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal).

By: Megan Henry – Ohio Capital Journal

Ohio college students, faculty and staff are calling on Gov. Mike DeWine to veto a massive higher education bill that would ban diversity and inclusion on campus and prevent faculty from striking.

Lawmakers concurred with tweaks made to Senate Bill 1 during Wednesday’s Senate session, sending the bill to DeWine’s desk for his signature. DeWine received the bill Wednesday and has 10 days to sign the bill into law or veto it. If DeWine vetoes the bill, lawmakers would need a 3/5 vote from each chamber to override it.

DeWine, however, has previously said he would sign the bill.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

S.B. 1 would set rules around classroom discussion, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, create a retrenchment provision that blocks unions from negotiating on tenure, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things.

For classroom discussion, the bill would set rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion, and forbid “indoctrination,” though that remains undefined. S.B. 1 would only affect Ohio’s public universities.

“Republicans showed us they’d rather gamble with our economic future than solve real problems in our state,” Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters said in a statement. “Instead of growing our state, Republicans are driving students, young adults, and business away from Ohio. We’re urging Governor DeWine to do the right thing and veto this legislation.”

The Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to DeWine urging him to veto S.B. 1.

“This legislation is a misguided attempt by overreaching legislators to impose their ideological beliefs on our public universities,” the letter said. “The bill undermines academic freedom, attacks collective bargaining rights, and jeopardizes the future of higher education in our state.”

The Ohio House Minority Caucus also sent a letter to DeWine asking him to veto the bill.

“You have an opportunity to protect the future of Ohio’s institutions of higher education, and your legacy as Ohio’s governor, by vetoing this bill and requiring the legislature to negate terms that are more amenable to the will of Ohioans,” the letter read.

The ACLU of Ohio wants DeWine to veto S.B. 1 and protect free speech on campus.

“By dismantling DEI structures, Senate Bill 1 sends a clear, harmful message to students that their unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are not welcome in Ohio,” ACLU of Ohio Policy Director Jocelyn Rosnick said in a statement.

Anticipating S.B. 1 would pass during Wednesday’s Senate session, members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus urged DeWine to veto S.B. 1 during a press conference earlier that day.

“This is one of the worst government overhauls that I’ve seen to date,” said state Rep. Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland. “It will not only limit our First Amendment right to free speech, ban strikes and collective bargaining rights for professors, it threatens opportunities for our students, undermines workforce development and disproportionately harms black and minority communities.”

State Rep. Desiree Tims, D-Dayton, said S.B. 1 is toxic, racist and a threat to free speech and academic freedom.

“Since when is diversity, equity and inclusion a bad thing?” she asked. “Why is this necessary? The only answer is, so that we can move backwards, pre-civil rights … progress that this country and this nation has stood for. … Senate Bill 1 turns the ugly page back in history, somewhere we do not want to go, where we should not go.”

Ohio University Journalism School Director Eddith Dashiell talked about how the university’s journalism school did not give out 12 race-based scholarships totaling $46,000 last year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against race-conscious admissions in 2023.

“The diversity scholarships weren’t designed to discriminate against white students,” she said. “The diversity scholarships were designed to encourage more students of color to come to little old, white Athens, Ohio and get a quality education.”

S.B. 1 will be detrimental to Ohio’s higher education, Dashiell said.

“If it hadn’t been for an extra effort at Ohio University to diversify the faculty, I would still be in Tennessee,” she said. “We also urge that Governor DeWine veto this bill because it’s going to hurt our students. It’s going to hurt those who will benefit from diversity programs and benefit from these diversity scholarships.”

Ohio State University’s Chair of the Undergraduate Black Caucus Jessica Asante-Tutu said this bill runs the risk of forcing Ohioans to move out of state.

“Students learn best in environments that encourage exchanges, where ideas flow freely and where differences are respected,” she said. “This bill stifles all of that.”

As an Olentangy Liberty High School student in Delaware County, Michelle Huang said S.B. 1 hangs over her head as she thinks about applying for colleges this fall.

“The threat of this bill passing is a deterrent from us attending Ohio State in the first place,” she said. “What DEI is actually doing is actually promoting more discourse and promoting more intellectual diversity.”

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

_______________

Megan Henry

Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

Mar 28, 2025
Ohio higher ed overhaul to ban diversity efforts and regulate classroom discussion heads to governor

Ohio college students and protesters rally at the Statehouse on March 19, 2025, against Senate Bill 1, a higher education overhaul that bans diversity efforts and faculty strikes, and sets rules around classroom discussion, among other things. (Photo by David DeWitt, Ohio Capital Journal.)

By: Megan Henry – Ohio Capital Journal

A controversial bill to overhaul Ohio higher education, ban diversity and inclusion efforts, prohibit faculty from striking, and regulate classroom discussion is heading to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk for his signature.

The Ohio Senate concurred with changes made to Senate Bill 1 by the Ohio House during Wednesday’s session. The vote was 20-11 with only two Republicans voting against it, state Sens. Louis W. Blessing III, of Colerain Township, and Thomas F. Patton, of Strongsville, voting against it. DeWine has previously said he would sign S.B. 1 into law.

DeWine will have 10 days to sign the bill into law or veto it once he receives it. If DeWine vetoes the bill, lawmakers would need a 3/5 vote from each chamber to override it.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.

S.B. 1 would set rules around classroom discussion, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, create a retrenchment provision that block unions from negotiating on tenure, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things.

For classroom discussion, the bill would set rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion. S.B. 1 would only affect Ohio’s public universities.

State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced S.B. 1, which passed the Ohio Senate last month and the Ohio House last week.

“I am delighted, of course, as I always believed this is a great bill for the state of Ohio, for students and for higher education, so I’m delighted that we’ve been able to get past this next hurdle and send the bill to the governor’s desk,” Cirino said.

S.B. 1 has received significant pushback. More than 1,500 people have submitted opponent testimony against the bill. Hundreds of students around the state have protested against the bill. Students and faculty have said they would leave Ohio if the bill becomes law.

“We decided on a different approach than many, many of them would like,” Cirino said when asked about the bill’s overwhelming opposition. “But this isn’t about how many people show up to protest or to testify in hearings. A lot of those students that were showing up where, I believe, they were being paid or getting extra credit. And we don’t make policy here based on the number of people that show up to protest or testify.”

Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, said the passing of S.B. 1 is long overdue.

“It’s something that, frankly, should have been done sooner, but I’m happy we put the work in to get to where we are right now,” he said. “I do think it’s something that’s supported by Ohioans.”

Before voting to concur on S.B. 1, lawmakers debated the bill for about 35 minutes.

“Senate Bill 1 will enrich the learning experience of students at our public universities and colleges — places where our best and brightest will be able to learn without prejudice, speak their minds without being canceled, be honest about their positions without fear of faculty retaliation, and consider all sides of an issue and make up their own minds,” said Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson.

State Sen. Michele Reynolds, R-Canal Winchester, acknowledged that some people are afraid of what will happen if DEI on college campuses is ended through this bill, but said the time has come to remove DEI labels.

“This is not about censure or erasure,” she said. “It’s not about exclusion. It’s about inclusion that transcends labels, because DEI has become a system that sorts us. It sorts us by race, by gender and by identity, creating a culture where we are defined by our categories instead of our character, where we look at each other’s faces instead of listening to each other’s hearts.”

State Sen. Kyle Koehler, R-Springfield, said this bill ends the micromanaging of instruction in higher education.

“All Ohio college students and parents will now have a more comfortable feeling that their public institution of higher learning will foster an environment of open and free expression for everyone,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, said not everyone is celebrating the concurrence of S.B. 1.

“Instead of tackling the real barriers to higher education — skyrocketing tuition costs and student debt — again, the majority are focused on dictating what’s taught in our colleges and universities and who teaches,” she said.

State Sent. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, said this bill will inhibit Ohio universities from attracting top-tier professors.

“If Senate Bill 1 becomes law, this legislation is the worst attack on academic freedom in Ohio in modern history,” Smith said.

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

____________

Megan Henry

Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

_____________

BECOME A LOVELAND MAGAZINE SUPERFAN BY DONATING NOW!

Editor’s note: Open and free local reporting is critical to having well-informed community. Loveland Magazine has published a free newspaper and website for the last 20 years for our community. If you would like us to continue, kindly contribute to this service. It would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: Loveland Magazine, 243 Wall Street, Loveland, Ohio 45140. Or, donations can be made through PayPal using a credit card. (https://bit.ly/4j1ju3k) Advertisers do not nearly cover all of our expenses.

Mar 27, 2025
Ohio law banning gender-affirming care and trans athletes heads to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk

COLUMBUS, Ohio — DECEMBER 13: Advocates for the trans community protest outside the Senate Chamber while inside lawmakers debated and passed HB 68 that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth and bars transgender kids from participating on sports teams, December 13, 2023, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original article.)

BY: MEGAN HENRY – Ohio Capital Journal

A bill that would block doctors from providing gender-affirming care to trans youth and prevent trans athletes from participating in Ohio women’s sports is going to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.

The Ohio Senate passed House Bill 68 in a 24-8 vote Wednesday afternoon and the Ohio House concurred with the Senate amendments in a 61-27 vote Wednesday night. DeWine now has 10 business days to sign or veto the bill.

“We await a final bill to review before offering formal comment,” DeWine’s press secretary Dan Tierney said in an email Wednesday afternoon.

State Senator Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, was the lone Republican who joined Senate Democrats in voting against the bill.

HB 68, introduced by Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, would block doctors from providing gender-affirming care to trans youth, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

The bill would ban physicians from performing gender reassignment surgery on a minor, but many opponents have testified that no Ohio children’s hospital currently performs gender-affirming surgery on those under 18. An amendment was added to HB 68 Wednesday that added a grandfather clause that would allow doctors who already started treatment on patients to continue.

Gender-affirming care is supported by every major medical organization in the United States. Children’s hospitals across Ohio, the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians all oppose HB 68.

House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, said she hopes DeWine will listen to the medical professionals who oppose the bill.

“The bill is so cruel on so many levels but at the end of the day this violates parents rights to make decisions about their children’s own healthcare,” she said. “It’s putting the government in the middle of families and their healthcare providers.”

Twenty-two other states have passed a law that blocks gender affirming care, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Gender-affirming surgery for minors is not common with less than 3,700 performed in the U.S. on patients ages 12 to 18 from 2016 through 2019, according to a study published in August in JAMA Network Open. It’s unclear how many of those patients were 18 when they underwent those surgeries.

Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, said the bill empowers parents.

“The important part is protecting children and making sure parents know what’s going on,” he said.

State Senator Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, called HB 68 a disgusting piece of legislation.

“Current hospital policies ensure gender-affirming care for minors who seek it is safe, medically necessary, and appropriate,” DeMora said in a statement. “It’s clear that this bill is targeting youth already at an increased risk of suicide and violence, and subjecting them to even more risk.”

He took a moment to speak directly to transgender people during the Senate session.

“Your life has meaning and purpose,” DeMora said. “You are seen, valued and loved.”

Trans athlete ban

House Bill 6 — which prevents trans athletes from participating in Ohio women’s sports — was rolled into HB 68 back in June. The would prevent males from playing female sports, but everyone would still be able to play on co-ed teams.

There were only six transgender high school female student athletes in Ohio, the Capital Journal previously reported in the spring.

If a trans girl wants to play on a team with cis girls in Ohio, she must go through hormone treatments for at least one year or show no physical or physiological advantages, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

Twenty-three states have passed similar laws in regards to transgender athletes since 2020, according to ESPN.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — DECEMBER 13: An advocate for the trans community protests outside the Senate Chamber while inside lawmakers debated and passed HB 68 that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth and bars transgender kids from participating on sports teams, December 13, 2023, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal)

“It is two bills, so much for single subject,” Senate Minority Leader Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood, said.

She sent a letter to Senators urging them not to pass the bill on Monday.

“This bill strips rights away from parents and bans children’s access to evidence-based healthcare,” Antonio said in a statement after the bill passed the Senate. “Physicians need to be able to have comprehensive care discussions with patients and their families, but this bill puts them in an impossible position.”

Hundreds of people submitted opponent testimony against the bill last week during a marathon Senate Government Oversight Committee meeting.

“We don’t make laws just for the hundreds of people that come and testify,” Senate President Matt Huffman said when asked about this. “We make laws for over 11 million people.”

Opponents speaks out and protest

LGBTQ+ advocates who oppose HB 68 had a press conference Wednesday morning to speak out against HB 68 — arguing families shouldn’t have to decide whether it’s safe to stay in Ohio.

“Ohio is home and I will not be legislated to leave,” said Densil Porteous, Executive Director of Stonewall Columbus.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — DECEMBER 13: Advocates for the trans community protest outside the Senate Chamber and repeatedly shouted “shame” when they heard that lawmakers had passed HB 68 that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth and bars transgender kids from participating on sports teams, December 13, 2023, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal)

This bill will make it more challenging for trans and non-binary people, said Dara Adkison, a member of TransOhio.

“HB 68 will cause people to leave Ohio and no one should be forced from their home for any reason, but especially not because of extreme laws undermining their freedom and safety,” Adkison said.

Mallory Golski, the civic engagement & advocacy manager for Kaleidoscope Youth Center, spoke in place of a high school student who couldn’t attend the event because they had school tests to take.

“The people who this bill targets are teenagers,” Golski said. “They are young people who shouldn’t have to make a decision about whether they should show up to school or show up to the statehouse to convince lawmakers of their inherent dignity.”

She knows many transgender kids who are happier when they receive gender affirmation or care.

“Taking that away from trans minors would be a detriment,” Golski said.

Evangelical Lutheran Deacon Nick Bates and father of a 13-year-old nonbinary child said bills like HB 68 force trans children and adults back into hiding.

“Sadly, HB 68 and other bills targeting trans and non-conforming youth take this peace, comfort and joy up the chimney like the Grinch stealing the Christmas tree,” Bates said.

Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Twitter.

MEGAN HENRY

Megan Henry is a reporter for the Ohio Capital Journal and has spent the past five years reporting in Ohio on various topics including education, healthcare, business and crime. She previously worked at The Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA Today Network.

MORE FROM AUTHOR

Dec 14, 2023