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  • Ohio Senate overrides DeWine vetoes on trans youth gender-affirming care and local tobacco bans

    Ohio Senate overrides DeWine vetoes on trans youth gender-affirming care and local tobacco bans

    COLUMBUS, OH — JANUARY 24: A protester asks senators to not override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of House Bill 68 that would limit medical care for transgender minors and block transgender girls from sports during the Ohio Senate session, January 24, 2024, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal)

    Both laws — banning gender-affirming care and local flavored tobacco regulations — are now set to take effect at the end of April.

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    The Ohio Senate voted to override two of Gov. Mike DeWine’s vetoes Wednesday — one on a bill blocking gender-affirming care for trans youth and the other blocking cities from banning flavored tobacco sales. Both laws are now set to take effect at the end of April.

    The Senate voted 24-8 to override DeWine’s veto of House Bill 68, which blocks gender-affirming care for trans youth and prevents transgender athletes from playing women’s sports. The bill prohibits transgender youth from starting hormone therapy and puberty blockers.

    “I think parents should make those decisions and not the government,” DeWine said before the vote Wednesday.

    The Senate also voted 24-8 to override DeWine’s veto of a provision that would prevent cities from banning flavored tobacco sales. A flavored tobacco ban took effect in Columbus earlier this month after Columbus City Council voted to stop the sale of flavored tobacco products in December 2022.

    “It will be a win for big tobacco and it will be a loss for Ohio,” DeWine said before the vote Wednesday.

    A three-fifths majority vote from the members of the House and Senate is necessary to override the governor’s veto. The Ohio House voted to override HB 68 earlier this month and voted to override the flavored tobacco ban in December. State Sen. Nathan Manning of North Ridgeville was the only Republican to vote against overriding the Republican governor on the gender-affirming care ban, and state Sen. Louis Blessing of Colerain Township was the sole Republican to vote against overriding DeWine on the tobacco law.

    The laws are set to go into effect 90 days after they are delivered to the Secretary of State’s office, meaning it would likely take effect April 23.

    House Bill 68

     COLUMBUS, OH — JANUARY 24: A protester asking senators to not override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of House Bill 68 that would limit medical care for transgender minors and block transgender girls from sports is removed from the gallery during the Ohio Senate session, January 24, 2024, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal) 

    Ohio Senators discussed House Bill 68 for about an hour before taking a vote. Democrats said they celebrated DeWine’s veto while Republicans expressed their disappointment in last month’s veto.

    “There are men and there are women and there are boys and there are girls and they are different,” said State Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson.

    “Gender is not fluid. There is no such thing as a gender spectrum,” she claimed.

    State Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, said this bill becoming law will lead to loss of life.

    “Politicians have no business banning evidence-based, life-saving medical care – especially when it is endorsed by every major medical and mental health association,”said Ohio Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio, D-Lakewood.

    “We should listen to parents, providers and patients, not willfully and purposely pass harmful legislation that will add to the mass exodus of individuals from the state of Ohio,” Antonio said.

    A protester was removed from the Senate chamber after she interrupted Roegner.

    “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, LGBTQIA,” she screamed. “Jesus would be here on their side today. We need to support them.”

    HB 68 has 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. No Ohio children’s hospital performs gender-affirming surgery on patients under 18 currently.

    DeWine said his veto of HB 68 was “about protecting human life.”

    “These are gut-wrenching decisions that should be made by parents and should be informed by teams of doctors who are advising them,”  he said during a press conference on Dec. 29.

    It’s likely this new law will end up in court.

    Twenty-two other states have passed a law that bans gender affirming care for transgender youth, but most have faced legal challenges, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

    Federal appeals judges on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Tennessee and Kentucky can continue banning gender-affirming care for trans youth while legal challenges against state laws continue. The 6th Circuit has jurisdiction over Ohio.

    Before the Senate voted to override his veto, DeWine said he does not plan to pursue legal against HB 68.

    “The legislature has the constitutional right to override anything, any bill that I sign, or any or any bill that I veto,” DeWine said. “That’s part of our system. And I respect our system. It doesn’t mean I like the vote, but I respect our system.”

    Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told reporters Wednesday he believes HB 68 will hold up in court.

    “I do think that it’ll pass constitutional scrutiny,” he said.

    State Rep. Gary Click

    The bill’s author state Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, has denied that HB 68 has any religious backing, but Click can be heard saying in a recorded sermon from 2018 that trans people break from God’s plan for the family.

     COLUMBUS, Ohio — JANUARY 10: State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, celebrates the vote to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of HB 68 during the Ohio House session, January 10, 2024, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original article.) 

    “You’re not born that way,” Click says about trans people during the sermon. “God’s not going to curse you in the wrong body. He’s not going to curse you with desires that cannot be adequately and appropriately and biologically fulfilled correctly.”

    Click is a pastor at Fremont Baptist Church and celebrated Wednesday’s Senate vote.

    “The SAFE Act and Save Women’s Sports Act are the civil rights issues of our day, ensuring that children have the right to grow up intact and that women are no longer subject to men invading their spaces,” he said in a statement.

    Gender-affirming care

    Gender-affirming care can “include any single or combination of a number of social, psychological, behavioral or medical interventions designed to support and affirm an individual’s gender identity,” according to the World Health Organization.

    It typically consists of four general practices: social affirmation, puberty blockers, hormone therapy and gender-affirming surgeries, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s Office of Population Affairs.

    Puberty blockers use hormones to pause puberty development and are reversible.

    Hormone therapy helps align a person’s body with their gender identity by giving testosterone hormones to those who were assigned female at birth and giving estrogen hormones to those who were assigned male at birth. This is partially reversible.

    A 2022 study published in JAMA Network Open found access to hormones and puberty blockers for young people ages 13-20 was associated with a 60% lower odds of moderate to severe depression and a 73% lower odds of self-harm or suicidal thoughts compared to youths who didn’t get these medications.

    Transgender athletes

    House Bill 6, which prevents trans athletes from playing Ohio women’s sports, was rolled into HB 68 during the summer.

    “It’s too bad that House Bill 68 and House Bill 6 were combined into one piece of legislation because the only commonality these two pieces of legislation have is they both target the same small portion of transgender kids,” said State Senator Kent Smith, D-Euclid.

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

    Currently, 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.

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

    Reactions to HB 68 override

    ​​Minna Zelch, the mother of a 19-year-old transgender daughter, said Wednesday’s Senate vote was completely devastating.

    “They think that they can erase transgender people with this legislation and the other legislation they’re passing, but our kids will still be trans and trans people will still be trans no matter what they do,” Zelch said. “And we’re here to fight and continue fighting.”

    Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said the override of HB 68 will harm innocent children.

    “Despite the fact that they have no medical training, these politicians believe they know better than parents and transgender youth seeking health care. It’s shameful,” Robinson said in a statement.

    Dara Adkison, board secretary of TransOhio, said trans youth deserve better.

    “Our community is strong and resilient in ways that hateful legislators can not comprehend, and trans Ohioans across the state cannot and will not be legislated away,” Adkison said.

    Carson Hartlage, an Ohio medical student, said this is a dark day for the Ohio trans community.

    “I was a trans kid who became a trans adult in Ohio, and it feels so dehumanizing to see my home state spend years trying to stop healthcare from my community,” Harlage said.

    Tobacco

    Back in January 2023, DeWine vetoed a bill that would have prevented any city or municipality from regulating smoking, vaping and other e-cigarette usage and sales. Before the Senate voted to override the tobacco veto, DeWine said a veto override would be horrible for Ohio children.

    “I just don’t know how anybody thinks it was a great idea,” DeWine said. “To have more children in the state of Ohio become addicted (to nicotine).”

    One out of every five children in Ohio vape, DeWine said.

    “It’s the Tutti Frutti and all the other kinds of crazy flavors that masked all nicotine and it gets them addicted,” he said.

    The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network said lawmakers have turned their backs on Ohio kids with the veto override.

    “Instead of offering solutions to address the health of Ohioans, lawmakers have now rolled back existing local laws regulating the sale of tobacco products and limited what local governments can do to prevent people from starting to use tobacco and help people quit,” ACS CAN said in a statement.

    Municipal home rule gives cities and villages in Ohio the constitutional right to certain powers, including establishing laws in accordance with the self-government clause. Cities have the right to make their own policies, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of laws in the Ohio Revised Code.

    Ohio Capital Journal reporter Zurie Pope contributed to this report. 

    Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.

    ________________
    Megan Henry
    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.

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  • Ohio families with transgender children relieved DeWine vetoed HB 68, worry about potential override

    Ohio families with transgender children relieved DeWine vetoed HB 68, worry about potential override

    A transgender Pride flag is covered with the words “Hands Off Trans Youth.” (Photo by Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator/States Newsroom)

    The Ohio House will be in session next Wednesday and the Senate’s next scheduled session is Jan. 24.

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    The Burkle family huddled together to watch last week’s press conference where Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed a controversial bill that would have banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

    “It was a brief sigh of relief,” mom Alicia Burkle said. “We were crying and hugging.”

    Their 10-year-old daughter Astrid has socially transitioned, but has not yet started puberty blockers.

    Ohio House Bill 68 would prevent transgender athletes from playing women’s sports and would ban transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. DeWine said during last week’s press conference his focus was on the health care component of the bill.

    The Burkles figured they had a couple of weeks before the lawmakers returned from winter break, but the Ohio House announced they will have session next Wednesday, Jan. 10. The Ohio Senate’s next schedule session is Jan. 24.

    “It’s just so hurtful and it’s exhausting,” Burkle said.

    The Ohio Capital Journal talked to three families with transgender children who were relieved DeWine vetoed HB 68, but are now concerned the legislature could override his veto.

    “We do know that this was a math problem also and that the veto was not necessarily the end,” said Nick Zingarelli, the father of a transgender teenager.

    A three-fifths vote of the members of the House and Senate is necessary to override the governor’s veto — meaning 60 representatives and 20 senators.

    HB 68 passed in December with 24 votes in the Senate and 62 votes in the House. State Sen. Nathan Manning was the lone Republican senator to vote against the bill in December. Republican state Reps. Jamie Callender and Brett Hillyer voted against the bill when it originally passed the House with 64 votes in June.

    Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, said last week he was disappointed in DeWine’s veto.

    “We will certainly discuss as a caucus and take the appropriate next steps,” Stephens said in a statement.

    Burkle family

    When the Ohio House and Senate passed HB 68 on Dec. 13, the Burkles launched into action mode by asking their doctor what next steps they can take as well as emailing and calling DeWine. Astrid even sent DeWine some handwritten letters.

    “We really didn’t get to truly enjoy the holiday because we were just so anxious about what was going to happen,” Alicia Burkle said.

    Astrid is not currently on puberty blockers and wouldn’t be covered under the grandfather clause that would allow doctors who already started treatment on patients to continue.

    “We don’t know that she would be (on puberty blockers) before the bill were to take effect, if it were to pass,” Alicia Burkle said.

    DeWine said he would pursue administrative rules banning gender-affirming surgery on minors, collecting data, and combating clinics that might pop up to try to perform ideologically-driven care. No Ohio children’s hospital currently performs gender-affirming surgery on those under 18.

    “Those are all really reasonable concessions,” Burkle said.

    The Cleveland-area family doesn’t want to move out-of-state, and hopes it doesn’t get to that point.

    “It’s certainly one of the options that we’re keeping open if that’s what we’re forced to do,” Burkle said.

    The Scagliones

    While Kat Scaglione was impressed with DeWine’s veto, she said it feels like sitting in limbo waiting to see what happens next.

    “What if this override happens?” she asked. “It feels like we’ve almost backpedaled and we’re back to where we started.”

    She has a 14-year-old transgender daughter, a 13-year-old cisgender son, and a 10-year-old transgender daughter.

    Amity, 14, is past the point of being able to get puberty blockers and is waiting on hormone treatment.

    “I am supposed to be worrying about the next test I have to study for,” Amity said. “Not whether my rights are going to disappear. …  It’s very scary to have that thought looming over your head, like all the time.”

    Kat said waiting on the governor’s decision overshadowed the holiday season.

    “My kids were sitting there writing Christmas lists and writing letters to send to the governor and to the representatives,” she said. “It didn’t feel like much of a holiday this year.”

    Zingarelli family

    The Zingarelli family celebrated DeWine’s veto.

    “It was we’re going to take the next few days just to savor this victory, because it was a huge victory,” father Nick Zingarelli said.

    His 14-year-old daughter is treated by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, so she would be able to continue receiving care under the grandfather clause but he wants to make sure all Ohio kids would have access to this kind of care.

    He hopes DeWine’s veto will give other Republican lawmakers pause.

    “I would hope that they would listen to the elected leader from their own party, and then consider that and say, ‘Am I on the wrong side of this issue?’ … We’re not gonna roll over on this battle. If they win in the legislature, we will see them in court,” he said.

    Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.

    ___________

    Megan Henry
    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

  • Ohio law banning gender-affirming care and trans athletes heads to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk

    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:  – 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

    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

  • “An attack on all trans people,” transgender youth speak out against Ohio legislation

    “An attack on all trans people,” transgender youth speak out against Ohio legislation

    Nathan Alvarez, 15, stands outside Kaleidoscope Youth Center on June 23. He is worried about a bill that would require K-12 schools and colleges to mandate that students could only use the bathroom or locker room that matches their sex assigned at birth. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal) Ohio Capital Journal talked to three transgender youths who are concerned about these bills and their potential implications.

    BY:  – Ohio Capital Journal

    Nathan Alvarez is used to people laughing or snickering at him when he uses the men’s bathroom.

    Despite that, the 15-year-old says his high school is one place he doesn’t have to worry about that happening because they have a couple of gender neutral bathrooms and anyone can use the men and women’s restroom.

    But a bill banning transgender students from being able to use the bathroom and locker room that aligns with their gender identity would change all that.

    State Reps. Beth Lear, R-Galena, and Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, recently introduced House Bill 183 which would require K-12 schools and colleges to mandate that students could only use the bathroom or locker room that matches their sex assigned at birth. HB 183 is still in House committee, awaiting sponsor testimony.

    “It would be hell (if the bill were to pass),” Alvarez said, who uses he/him pronouns. “Hearing about it disgusted me. Like it violently disgusted me.”

    HB 183 is one of a handful of anti-trans bills that have been introduced so far in the Ohio General Assembly.

    Doctors wouldn’t be able to give puberty blockers and hormone therapy to trans youth, trans athletes wouldn’t be able to participate in women’s sports, educators would be forced to out students to their parents and require public schools to give parental notification before teaching “sexuality content” if these various anti-trans bills pass through the Republican-controlled Ohio Statehouse.

    OCJ talked to three transgender youths who are concerned about these bills and their potential implications.

    “It’s an attack on all trans people,” said Ko Rupert, who uses she/it pronouns. “They are all uniquely bad, but their uniqueness is important.”

    And it’s not just happening in Ohio.

    There have been more than 220 bills introduced nationwide specifically targeting transgender and non-binary people, according to the Human Rights Campaign year-to-date snapshot from May 23.

    Fifteen laws have been enacted banning gender affirming care for transgender youth and four additional laws have been passed that censor school curriculum like books, according to HRC.

    “It’s very hard to see what’s been already happening in other states and how the bills that they are trying to pass here in Ohio are not even that different,” Jaylah Hollins, 19 said. “I feel like it’s not really in the interest of Ohioans, but only in the interest of anti-trans lobbyists from out of state.”

    House Bill 8

    Hollins is going to start attending Columbus State Community College this fall for social work and hopes to one day work for an organization that helps transgender people.

    “Hopefully if these bills don’t pass, we can try and make Ohio a place where it can be a refuge for trans kids and trans adults,” Hollins, said, who uses she/her pronouns. “Ensuring that trans kids have access to medical care and that adults have access to the facilities that align with their gender identity shouldn’t be politicized in the first place.”

     An advocate for the rights of trans children and their parents holds up a sign. Photo by Morgan Trau, WEWS. 

    While she said all the anti-trans bills are harmful, House Bill 8 stands out to her as the most damning.

    State Reps. D.J. Swearingen, R-Huron, and Sara Carruthers, R-Hamilton, introduced HB 8 which would require public schools to give parents a heads up before teaching “sexuality content” and school staff would have to out students to their parents. HB 8 recently passed the Ohio House.

    “I feel like they don’t see it as putting children in harm’s way when it most likely is because you can’t expect a parent to be able to deal with knowing that their child is within an LGBT umbrella and not have to try and resort to what they may not see at the time as harmful approaches to their child’s identity,” Hollins said.

    She said these bills would prevent children from learning more about themselves and make them feel as though they deserved to be punished because of how they identify.

    “It won’t allow children to be able to understand others who are maybe different from them,” Hollins said. “It will encourage isolation and I think the most devastating would be suicidal ideation, especially with trans and non-binaries who already know that they are coming from families who are unaccepting of those identities.”

    She’s said she’s still debating if she’ll stay in Ohio after college.

    “It’s still hard for me to think about, but for me, I think I would want to stay in Ohio and fight for trans youth,” Hollins said.

    Rupert, a 20-year-old Ohio State University graduate student, is also worried about HB 8 and the stripping away of youth rights.

    “Young people can make decisions, can know their bodies and understand and have a deep relationship with their gender and sexuality and romantic orientations,” Rupert said.

    Alvarez tries to speak out against the anti-trans bills when he gets the chance and even recently appeared on Good Morning America. But he’s not old enough to vote.

    “It’s upsetting to know that there are adults making choices for people to make choices about me. And I don’t have a choice,” Alvarez, of Reynoldsburg, said. “It’s scary.”

    He hopes to move out of Ohio one day and relocate to Washington.

    Anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bills

    House Bill 68, also known as the  Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act (SAFE Act), would prevent doctors from giving puberty blockers and hormone therapy to trans youth. It would also ban physicians from performing gender reassignment surgery on a minor.

    Many opponents, however, have testified that no Ohio children’s hospital currently performs gender-affirming surgery on those under 18.

    House Bill 6 would prevent trans athletes from participating in Ohio women’s sports and was woven into HB 68, which recently passed the House and now awaits Senate committee consideration.

    Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on Twitter.

    ______________________

    Megan Henry
    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.

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  • Jeopardy champion Ohioan, others testify against anti-LGBTQ health care bill

    Jeopardy champion Ohioan, others testify against anti-LGBTQ health care bill

    Amy Schneider, Dayton native and Jeopardy! champion, leaves the Ohio House Families, Aging and Human Services Committee after testifying against House Bill 454. Schneider, who is a trans woman, said the bill would be “tragic” for Ohio children. Photo: Susan Tebben, OCJ

    BY: SUSAN TEBBEN – Ohio Capital Journal

    A packed and stuffy Families, Aging and Human Services committee room was flanked by multiple overflow rooms, where applause could be heard after parents, trans advocates and individuals implored the committee not to approve of House Bill 454, a bill created by committee member state Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery.

    One of the testimonies came from Dayton native Amy Schneider, a trans woman who went on to become a Jeopardy! super champion, and has used her platform to support her fellow LGBTQ+ community members.

    “To be given the chance in Ohio, where I spent 30 years of my life, to have a chance to make a difference and have a chance to actually, if nothing else, slow down these laws and give trans kids a little bit longer to be safe, then I’ve just got to do it,” Schneider told the OCJ before she gave her testimony to the committee.

    In her testimony, she sought not to demonize those who support the bill, but to ask that they do what they claim is the main goal of the bill: protecting children.

    “But if you do share that goal, then passing this bill would be a tragic mistake,” Schneider said. “Because far from protecting children, this bill would put some of them in grave danger, a danger that not all them would survive.”

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=5sRGUicLu6Q%3Ffeature%3Doembed

    Several of those that testified, including Schneider, called gender-affirming care “life-saving” care, in that it would help suicide rates among trans individuals, and the overall mental health of those attempting to live as they want to live.

    “With this bill, I wouldn’t be able to appear as I want to appear to the public with a form that would greatly appeal to me,” said 15-year-old Cass Steiner, who appeared alongside her mother, Kat. “This would likely send me, and everyone else who is expecting treatment, into another deep depression.”

     State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, looks on as the House Families, Aging and Human Services Committee, of which he’s a member, listens to testimony against his bill restricting gender-affirming care, House Bill 454. The bill did not see a vote on Wednesday.
    Photo: Susan Tebben, OCJ

    In the middle of two hours of testimony, Click introduced a substitute version of the bill, that he said was an attempt to “meet in the middle” of opposition and support.

    In the new version, puberty blockers or hormone therapy is allowed for minors, but only after a doctor confirms that the child “has received on a routine basis and for at least a two-year period counseling related to gender dysphoria, mental health and the risks of gender transition,” according to the sub bill’s analysis by the Legislative Service Commission.

    A doctor must also screen for other things that “may be influencing the minor’s gender dysphoria,” including depression, autism or ADHD, and “ensure that these comorbidities are treated and stabilized for at least two years.”

    Along with conducting other physical, sexual, mental and emotional abuse screenings, a second doctor must be consulted and agree to the treatment plan.

    Asked twice how the two-year time frame was decided on, Click told reporters it was “discussed by some other folks who came up with that and I thought that sounded reasonable.”

    He did not specify who he consulted with to come to that amount of time.

    The substitute bill also seeks to keep track of the number of medical and therapy appointments the minor attended before a physician recommended hormones or puberty blockers, any mental health conditions before being diagnosed with a “gender-related condition” and any follow-up the minor received after treatment.

    The bill also requires physicians to report “the number of minors who resumed identification with their biological sex,” and “the number of minors for whom the physician previously prescribed drugs or hormones who have not been prescribed those hormones or drugs for one year or more,” according to the LSC analysis.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=WUIJG2_rhU8%3Ffeature%3Doembed

    That information would be reported on a yearly basis to the General Assembly and to the Ohio Department of Health.

    Like the abortion ban that is currently held up in court, violating HB 454 could put doctor’s medical licenses at risk, and the state Attorney General would be authorized to bring against anyone violating the bill, should it become law.

    The bill was not voted on during Wednesday’s committee meeting, with chair Susan Manchester, R-Waynesfield, adjourning the meeting immediately after the last witness of the day finished.

    It’s not clear what the fate of the bill will be from here, with the General Assembly’s session ending at the end of December. More hearings could be scheduled, which Click supports because he said there are more people to hear from, particularly those who have been “damaged” by gender-affirming care.

    He said the testimony he heard on Wednesday wasn’t anything he hadn’t heard before, but it didn’t change his mind on the bill.

    “(Children) have to have that period to work through this to make sure this isn’t a phase, it’s not a social contagion … we want to give them that legitimate chance to work through this,” Click said.

    He said he won’t “write anything off” in terms of new amendments to the bill, but he feels the bill has come as close to “the middle” as possible.

    “There are proponents of this bill who are not happy with some of the concessions that we made, and of course the opponents aren’t happy with the fact that we didn’t make enough,” Click said.

    For Schneider, she sees attempts to keep trans folks from getting the care they need as a negative response to success and progress the trans community has had over the last few decades. Progress that will continue, she says.

    “The momentum will continue to be on our side and there’s this pain right now, but this is just sort of the last gasp of that resistance,” Schneider said.