Ohio bans boys from girls' bathrooms in schools

Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) signed Bill 104 – the Protect All Students Act – into law Wednesday, the Ohio Capital Journal reported. The legislation mandates students to use the bathroom associated with their biological sex and not their gender identity. The bill recently passed the Ohio Senate 24-7, with Republicans supporting and Democrats against it.

The act will ensure students at the primary, secondary and post-secondary level use a bathroom or locker room in accordance with the sex assigned to them at birth. The law will come into effect in 90 days.

The policy would not apply to school employees, the disabled or children under 10 who require the assistance of a family member or guardian. Those who support the new law say gender-neutral bathrooms have allowed for the rape of female students and allowing biological males into female bathrooms can be threatening for girls and women.

The legislation is expected to be challenged in court, according to the Ohio Capital Journal. DeWine’s support for the bill was not entirely certain. His office was non-committal after it was approved by the Senate and in 2023, he vetoed a bill to ban sex-change operations for minors. The legislature chose to override his veto and move the legislation into law.

Proponents of the law are celebrating. “Common sense is on a winning streak in America today,” Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer said in a statement, according to The Columbus Dispatch. “No student should be forced to go into the bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite sex, and Ohio's kids are better protected now because of Governor DeWine's decision to sign this bill.”

LGBTQ activists have targeted this bill and others like it for defeat, seeing them as an attack on perceived transgender rights. “We are deeply disappointed that Gov. DeWine has allowed this dangerous bill to become law that puts vulnerable trans youth at risk for abuse and harassment,” Dwayne Steward, executive director of Equality Ohio, told The Dispatch.

House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), in conjunction with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) recently ruled that “all single sex facilities in the Capitol and House office buildings such as restrooms, changing rooms and locker rooms are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.” The move has ignited outrage among Democrats, especially Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who said the new bathroom policy “endangers girls of all kinds.”