For Robin, a transgender high school student in Columbus, going to the bathroom will become much more complicated.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine recently signed the agreement A ban on using toilets for transgender people in schools was introducedwhich will come into force on February 24.
“I can’t do simple things like pee without having to be controlled now,” he said.
Robin is actively transitioning and has been taking testosterone for eight months.
“I don’t look like a woman, so… I feel like a moron walking into a women’s room, even though I’m not,” he said. “People will ask, ‘Why are you here?’ And I said, “I obey the law.” I wish it had been so.
The toilet ban bill was part of the wave anti-LGBTQ laws during the last General Assembly, which ended last week.
Ohio lawmakers just passed House Bill 8, which requires teachers to inform parents about their students’ sexuality. DeWine has 10 business days to sign the bill or veto it. As of Thursday afternoon, his office had not yet said whether he had taken action.
A modern law was introduced in Ohio last year which prohibits gender-affirming care for transgender youth, including hormone blockers, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and some mental health services. The law also prohibits transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. DeWine broke with the Republican Party by vetoing the bill last year, but lawmakers overrode the veto.
“It’s exhausting for so many reasons,” said TransOhio Executive Director Dara Adkison. “I never thought 10 years ago that so many legislatures would feel so comfortable openly questioning minors in public sessions about what kind of genitalia they have. It’s a strange reality and a terrible one when you know many of the children directly.”
Some families are putting their homes up for sale and moving out of Ohio. Others are considering moving their students to online school or homeschooling.
“It’s a really privileged position for me to even consider moving,” Adkison said. “We just want people to know it’s okay not to do it. There are still a lot of resources in the state.”
TransOhio Emergency Fund last year it provided more than $45,000 in mutual aid funds to more than 1,400 transgender Ohioans and their families, Adkison said.
“It really has been a huge help for people who have gotten resources and funding directly from this,” Adkison said.
The funds go primarily to Ohioans who need financial assistance for health care, housing, transportation and food, Adkison said.
“We started this fund to focus on people who were experiencing health care disparities across the state, as well as families who were very scared and wondering what their options were for getting health care for their children,” Adkison said.
Grants are usually petite amounts, such as $100 for a doctor’s visit or $60 for groceries, Adkison added.
This wave of anti-LGBTQ bills isn’t just happening in Ohio. The ACLU tracks 574 anti-LGBTQ law in the USA, as of December 6.
“I have to jump through more hoops than my cisgender peers.”
Robin started taking testosterone on April 16, shortly before the ban on gender-affirming care went into effect.
“We were already planning for it, but we had to make it a priority in my care,” he said. “So we had to accelerate that goal because of regulations, which is really frustrating.”
Robin plans to play men’s volleyball on his high school team, but by law he is not allowed to apply the men’s locker room. The law banning the apply of toilets also includes a ban on the apply of locker rooms for transgender people.
He said he may apply the nurse’s bathroom to change before home games, but it is unclear what he will do for away games.
“It’s frustrating that I have to do things differently than everyone else,” Robin said. “In some ways it almost feels like ostracism. … I have to jump through more hoops than my cisgender peers.”
It’s critical that Robin has a voice.
“You can’t just sit and be idle,” he said.
Robin plans to go to Rhode Island to study marine science.
“I think just changing the people around me, changing their perspectives and having the government take care of me will have a very big impact on my mental health,” he said.
“We know that nothing we say will change the situation.”
Hundreds of people provided opposing testimony and showed up to testify against anti-LGBTQ bills.
“We could ask 5,000 people to testify or show up and they would still vote the same way, so we’ve reached the point where someone has to bear witness to the attempt to eradicate transgender people,” Minna Zelch told Trans Allies of Ohio. “We know that nothing we say will change the situation.”
Despite overwhelming testimony from opponents, Republicans with a majority in the House of Representatives continue to vote in favor of the bills.
“They do what their funders want, and their funders are not the majority of Ohioans,” Adkison said.
A 2023 Public Religion Research Institute study found that 76% of Ohioans support LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination laws.
“The position does not currently represent the majority of Ohio, and that is truly sad,” said Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio.
Steward said LGBTQ Ohioans want to work with state lawmakers.
“We want to work with you and we deserve to have you represent us because Ohio is our home too,” Steward said.
Honesty for Ohio Education spokeswoman Matina Bliss said it’s critical for transgender Ohioans to see people standing up for them.
“Our legislators are more concerned about passing unnecessary and discriminatory laws than actually trying to fix the problems that are happening in our schools,” she said.
“Every transgender person I know feels unwelcome in Ohio.”
Despite recently signing a bill banning transgender students from using restrooms, DeWine said transgender students and their families are welcome in Ohio.
“We definitely want them in Ohio,” DeWine told reporters a few weeks ago. “We want them to stay in Ohio. We want them to come to Ohio.”
Zelch, mother of a transgender daughter, it begs for a difference.
“Apparently not,” Zelch said. “My child has not felt welcome here since she came here. … Every transgender person I know feels unwelcome in Ohio.”
DeWine added that there will be more family bathrooms.
“I know there is a concern about stigma,” DeWine said. “I don’t think that when there are a lot of them out there and it’s not unusual for someone to go in there, whether you’re transgender or not, people use them, so I think the stigma goes away the more people we have like that.”
Transgender people are an effortless target because they make up a petite portion of the state’s population, Zelch said.
About 4.3% of Ohio’s population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to data. Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
“People don’t understand it,” Zelch said. “As human beings, we are always afraid of what we do not understand.”
Other LGBTQ bills
Not all anti-LGBTQ bills have been passed by this General Assembly.
House Bill 245 would have banned drag performers from performing anywhere that was not a designated adult entertainment venue, but it never made it out of commission.
State Representative Gary Click, R-Vickery, introduced a bill that would do just that March 12 Detrans Awareness Daybut the bill was never even considered.
State Rep. Gail Pavliga, R-Portage County, has introduced a bill that would implement a ban Public universities in Ohio from asking for potential applicants students’ preferred pronouns in university admission applications, but the bill was considered only once.
“Just because something has been proposed doesn’t mean it’s legal,” Adkison said.
What will happen at the next General Meeting?
The next two-year cycle of the General Assembly will begin in January.
“I hope that next year they will take a break from the attacks specifically on LGBTQ children and the education policies that come with it,” Bliss said.
However, it is impossible to know what the next General Meeting will bring.
“I think there’s a lot up in the air in terms of what will be thrown out to the states versus what might happen at the federal level,” Adkison said.
Follow the OCJ reporter Megan Henry in Bluesky.
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