DeWine signs bill restricting bathroom access for transgender Ohio students

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation Wednesday barring transgender students from using school restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, joining more than a dozen GOP-led states that have enacted similar laws.

What started as a noncontroversial bill about college credit for high school students turned into a hotly debated piece of legislation when Ohio Senate Republicans voted in June to attach a House-passed bill barring transgender students from using single-sex restrooms to the measure. The state’s Republican-dominated Senate sent the bill to DeWine in a party-line 24-7 vote earlier this month.

The law, which will take effect in 90 days, requires K-12 public and private schools, as well as colleges and universities, to separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations by “biological sex,” or the sex that is listed on a student’s original birth certificate. It also prohibits the construction of multi-occupancy all-gender facilities.

Transgender students may use single-occupancy or faculty facilities with “controlled use,” according to Senate Bill 104. The restrictions do not apply to school staff, individuals assisting young children or someone with a disability or during emergencies.

DeWine signed the bill Wednesday without comment. His office, which said earlier this month that he was inclined to approve the measure, declined to offer additional comment.

In a social media post, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, which had opposed the legislation and encouraged DeWine to veto it, said it is “closely considering next steps.”

“Transgender people are part of the fabric of Ohio; our families, our workplaces, and our neighborhoods,” the ACLU of Ohio said, adding, “Every Ohioan deserves the freedom to be loved, to be safe, to be trusted with decisions about health care and to access the facilities that align with their gender identity. We will not leave anyone behind.”

“We made it clear to Governor DeWine and Ohio legislators that SB 104 does nothing to make trans students safer in schools, and in fact makes life more dangerous for trans kids in Ohio,” said Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio, a state LGBTQ rights group that had also opposed the bill. “We are deeply disappointed that Governor DeWine has allowed this dangerous bill to become law that puts vulnerable trans youth at risk for abuse and harassment. Equality Ohio will continue to stand in solidarity with our transgender communities and their families, and we will always fight for fairness in Ohio.”

Ohio Republican Reps. Adam C. Bird and Beth Lear, the sponsors of the original House bill, thanked DeWine for signing the measure in posts on social platform X.

“We are thankful that individuals will not have to worry about the opposite sex coming into the restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms,” Bird wrote early Wednesday, more than an hour before DeWine’s office announced that he had signed the bill.

Ohio Democrats have denounced Senate Bill 104 as an attempt to further restrict transgender rights in the state. Ohio law already prohibits transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity and prevents transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming medical care, a measure that DeWine initially vetoed.

Opponents of Senate Bill 104 say it also likely violates Ohio’s single-subject rule by legislating more than one subject, in this case, college credit and access to single-sex facilities.