On Mar. 18, the Ohio Court of Appeals blocked Congress's bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender youths. This has led to hope for transgender individuals in Ohio, and may lead to decreases in mental health and safety risks among this group.
The vetoed House Bill 68
Governor Mike DeWine vetoed House Bill 68 after Congress voted it through, which The General Assembly then overrode. Following the signing of this bill on April 24, 2024, a lawyer from Ohio's ACLU branch filed a case, asking that the court of appeals block the restrictive ban. Again, The General Assembly overrode the ban block.
If it were to pass, it would mean that transgender individuals under the age of 18 would be banned from medically transitioning and would prevent them from participating in sports.
ACLU lawyers argued that gender dysphoria is a very serious issue that transgender children face and that, by cutting off these resources to children that are experiencing gender dysphoria, they are not only feeding into the harm of transgender youth, but taking away the rights of transgender individuals.
After a lengthy case, the Ohio Court of Appeals blocked the bill that would ban gender affirming care. The bill will no longer be a law in Ohio.
“We are gratified by the Court’s decision, which soundly rejects this interference of politicians with Ohioans’ bodily autonomy,” a spokesperson for ACLU Ohio stated.
Why is this important?
According to a study done by the Trevor project in 2024, introductions of anti-transgender laws aid in an increase of suicide rates among transgender and non-binary youths by 72%.
“It wasn't a shock when I attempted,” Jaxson Freedman, a trans man from Springfield Ohio said. “I didn't feel supported in any type of way and I started to be told how I was feeling was wrong. I felt like I was trapped inside my own body. A body I didn't want, around people who didn't want me.”
Freedman is not the only trans student to feel this way.
According to a study done for The Journal of Internal Medicine, 82% of participants that were transgender expressed thoughts of suicide and suicidal ideation.
This bill, while attacking transgender youth, was also found to be potentially harmful for cisgender children as well. Olivia Daugherty, a high school student from Dayton Public Schools, discussed this.
“Not only was I concerned about my trans friends, I was worried about how they thought they were going to check and see if people were trans. Were they going to look at our parts? That's weird. I'm glad the law was blocked," Daugherty said.
The language of the bill was not clear, only highlighting its' banning of gender-affirming care and transgender kids from playing sports. There is no language in the bill as to how schools are to check the gender of students. This led to the conversation of the inappropriateness of checking for students' supposed "transness," or how to confirm that their sexual identity and gender identity aligned or not.
The blocking of this bill is considered a very positive thing and step in the right direction for the transgender youth of Ohio. While there is uncertainty on a federal level as to whether laws like this one are going to stick, it is clear that in Ohio, transgender students have a place.
“I'm happy that these kids are able to get the grace that I was not allowed,” Freedman said, “There is nothing stopping me from transitioning at that point but peer pressure, so I think it's nice that people are more open to the idea of transgender people, so they feel like they have a place to belong.”
