Nearly 12 hours after convening, Ohio House Republicans attached an anti-LGBTQ+ bill to an unrelated bill to force a vote on language that had not been vetted through the normal legislative process.
Rep. Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) proposed amending the bill updating the College Credit Plus program (SB 104) to include HB 183, a bill that would prohibit transgender people in Ohio schools from using shared restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
Dubbed the “Protection for All Students Act,” the bill, although it only covers bathroom operate, applies to all educational institutions in Ohio, from preschools to colleges, both public and private. The bill would also prohibit all colleges and universities from building, establishing or maintaining multi-occupancy facilities designated as “non-sex, multi-gender or open to all genders.”
The House passed the amended bill by a vote of 60-31.
By amending a bill that originated in the Senate and had already been approved by that body, House Republicans bypassed the normal legislative process in which HB 183 would have had to be heard through Senate committee hearings. Now the Senate only needs to agree to the amended SB 104 to send the bathroom bill to Gov. Mike DeWine for approval.
The Senate is not expected to return until the fall.
“This is a made-up problem and your targets are children.”
House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said she didn’t plan to speak out against the amendment, but she couldn’t stay mute while Republicans circumvent the legislative process.
“It’s no wonder that on a dark night when most people have gone home and aren’t paying attention, we pass the worst kinds of laws that these institutions are famous for,” Russo said.
Russo then described the issues facing youth in Ohio, including poverty and food insecurity. She also disputed testimony by House Republicans that they were approached by superintendents asking for a bathroom bill.
“Don’t tell me your school districts are begging for this,” Russo said. “That’s bullshit. They want to fill teaching positions. They want help paying for bus fares. They want help building a safe learning environment. This is red meat. This doesn’t solve any problem at all. This is a made-up problem, and your target is children.”
Rep. Beth Liston (D-Dublin) said she didn’t plan to speak out either, but didn’t realize the legislature would “use the power of the state to harass trans children and Ohioans.”
“We are still focusing on children’s genitals rather than their education, which was the original intention [SB 104]– Liston said. “We should not marginalize other children or adults, and that is exactly what this bill does.”
Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery) used the Democrats’ comment as an opportunity to attack the idea that transgender children should be supported.
“The suicide rate is not because people reject suicide or discriminate against it,” Click said. “It’s because they were lied to. We need to stop lying to our children.”
Rep. Josh Williams (Sylvania Township) said he recently celebrated his 40th birthday and in his 40 years he has learned three truths.
“I’m going to die one day,” Williams said. “I’m always going to pay taxes. And boys can never become girls. That’s why boys shouldn’t be in girls’ locker rooms.”
When the revised bill was passed, Republicans applauded loudly.
LGBTQ+ equality groups responded quickly.
“Regardless of race, origin or gender, we all deserve the dignity of safely existing in public life and enjoying the most basic public amenities. “Today we saw extremists in the General Assembly resort to eleventh-hour back-door legislative efforts to ensure that transgender and gender-expansive Ohioans are deprived of this basic decency,” Morgan Zickes, public policy manager at Equality, Ohio“This is the latest in their desperate efforts to advance a deeply unpopular and discriminatory agenda that Ohioans do not want or need. We will never stop standing up for transgender and gender-expansive communities across our state.”
