House Bill 68: What It Means for Ohio Transgender Children Going Forward
Last month, both the Ohio Senate and Ohio House voted to override Governor Mike DeWine’s veto of House Bill 68, which could lead to the restriction of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries, along with the outlawing of transgender girls participating in female sports in the state.
Amanda Cole is the executive director at Plexus LGBT and Allied Chamber of Commerce and she said that when Governor DeWine vetoed the bill, she was pleasantly surprised.
“In no way did I for see that his executive order paired with paired with the override of the veto would create a situation that made both access to participate in athletics harder or near impossible for transgender youth,” Cole said. “When he said his remarks during the press conference, I feel he genuinely heard the pleas and perspectives of the LGBTQ people and parents of transgender and nonbinary youth.”
When it comes to those transgender girls wanting to participate in girls sports, athletic departments across the Buckeye State are aware that this is an occurrence happening closer than what many people think, along with the fact that they could experience some form of pushback from parents who don’t believe that they should play.
Tom Oakes is the athletic director at Hoover High School in North Canton and he said that no matter what, kids should be able to play.
We want everyone to have the ability to participate in interscholastic high school athletics,” Oakes explained. “We think it teaches many life lessons that you can’t get in a classroom setting.”
The sequence of events concerning this bill, playing out the way it did, didn’t leave many shocked. Ken Schnek is the editor in chief of the Buckeye Flame, the only LGBTQ newsroom in Ohio, and recalls not being surprised when the veto was overriden.
“This was a legislative body in which there was a Republican supermajority so nothing was surprising.”
Ken Schnek
“This was a legislative body in which there was a Republican supermajority so nothing was surprising,” Schnek described. “I think the degree to which outside actors, who were paid in by other organizations to come to Ohio to testify in the face of an unbelievable ratio of Ohioans who stepped forward and said ‘We don’t want this here.’ who testified.”
The submitted testimony was 8-1 against House Bill 68.
Schnek also says that the committee that was herd in a public health hearing only agreed with one out of four individuals who spoke.
“They had a board certified pediatrician, a board certified Ob/Gyn, and a certified nurse practitioner saying HB 68 goes against all medical advice,” Schnek said. “But ultimately, the committee listened to a baptist pastor with a degree from an uncredited college who has preached in favor of conversion therapy. So, this clearly has nothing to do with medicine, with evidence, with science and that’s what we hear from our readers all the time, it’s more about what plays in these rural Ohio districts.”
Laws similar to this were blocked in a number of states across the country such as Arkansas and Texas. Cole says that it may be a little tough to see if Ohio would be the first state to follow suit with such a law, but it could very well happen.
“We have a super majority in Ohio caused by decades of gerrymandering,” said Cole. “This creates the perfect storm for such a veto to occur with a sitting governor of the same majority party.”
Schnek asks Ohioans to look at other bills due to the fact that it has the chance to impact ones like House Bill 68.
“As a college professor at Baldwin Wallace who teaches higher education, it’s really important, and in particular college students, to understand how some of these bills will effect them,” Schnek said. “If the bill goes through, no trans individuals, trans students, trans college professors, will be able to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. They will be forced to go to a restroom that corresponds to a birth certificate that was issued at the time of their birth and no colleges will be able to maintain all gender multi-use bathrooms.”
Oakes says that there is one athlete vying to get onto the playing field as a transgender girl in Stark County and even though he doesn’t know how that department is handling parents potentially disagreeing with their policies, he stresses the fact that one’s vote matters, probably now more than ever.
“When you vote, make sure your vote counts and make sure you’re voting for what you believe in because ultimately, they have the authority and the powers to create things that we may or may not believe in.”
Tom Oakes
“When you vote, make sure your vote counts and make sure you’re voting for what you believe in because ultimately, they have the authority and the powers to create things that we may or may not believe in.”
Oakes also brought up the fact that fans had to purchase tickets without cash during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he said that that is a prime example of how people in the state government can change things in the blink of an eye.
“I don’t think there’s any reason why a state legislature should have any impact on whether I sell cash tickets or not, but they do. It has an impact and a trickle down effect on what we do as an athletic department. So, go vote. It’s the biggest thing people can do.”